Etihad Airways could soon be carrying out aircraft line maintenance work on behalf of other major European airlines, following a successful recent audit of its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) capabilities. The national airline of the United Arab Emirates has been awarded EASA Part 145 certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), following a comprehensive audit by the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA).

The approval effectively means that Etihad Airways’ Technical division is now fully accredited to provide line maintenance services on Airbus A319, A320, A330, A340 and Boeing B777 aircraft types for all European carriers.

Werner Rothenbaecher, Etihad Airways’ executive vice president Technical, said: “This is an important step forward in the airline’s MRO capabilities and represents the culmination of a lot of hard work by the airline’s Technical and Quality Assurance teams. Receiving this important certificate effectively validates our technical capabilities and means we can expand our MRO services to handle other major European carriers, both at our Abu Dhabi hub and also at our satellite bases overseas.”

To obtain the certification, Etihad had to submit a 'Maintenance Organisation Exposition (MOE), supported by a fully documented set of processes and procedures.

EASA is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for specific regulatory and executive tasks in the field of civilian aviation safety. Its work centres on ensuring the highest levels of civil aviation safety, through certification of aviation products, approval of organisations to provide aviation services, and the development and implementation of a standardised European regulatory framework.