Avincis expands maintenance hub in Portugal with helicopters from its wider European fleet

Avincis has chosen Lisbon, Portugal, as the location for a large-scale scheduled maintenance procedure on one of its Italian-based aircraft. The helicopter has arrived in Lisbon from Italy and will receive a complete overhaul from the Portuguese technical team.

With this pilot project, Avincis continues its investment strategy in the country and strengthens its helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) base in Loures, Lisbon, after establishing the Portuguese capital as the home for its global corporate headquarters in 2023.

The company expects to create more work and give more long-term job security to its Portuguese workforce with this initiative. Until now, Avincis in Lisbon has only worked on helicopters from its Portuguese and Spanish fleets. For example, the Spanish firefighting fleet of 10 aircraft is maintained here over the winter months.

The AW139 aircraft, which provides emergency medical as well as search and rescue services from the operator’s Colico base at Lake Como in Italy, will remain in Lisbon for around 10 weeks while the two-yearly inspection is carried out. This operation will be conducted by around 10 engineers, technicians and support staff, who will work on this aircraft exclusively until the inspection is complete.

Over the last three years, around three dozen helicopters have been maintained, repaired or overhauled at the Lisbon base.

John Boag, Avincis Group CEO, said: “The project strengthens the investment made in developing Lisbon into a center of excellence for maintenance and training.” He went on to say the initiative confirms that “Portugal is the right location for us, geographically and in terms of available talent in the labor market”.

“Mobilizing aircraft between the countries in which Avincis has operations is not only a rational decision to make efficiency gains where they exist, but also a demonstration of the size, capacity and resources of the company as a group, factors that distinguish us from other operators in the different markets,” concluded Boag.

The Spanish government recently extended its maritime search and rescue partnership with Avincis for a further five years.