Royal Jordanian (RJ) said it has signed up MRO firms Liebherr-Aerospace and Messier-Bugatti-Dowty to provide repair and overhaul services for landing gears of its Embraer jets and for providing wheels and electric brakes for its Boeing 787 fleet.

With its global network of service stations and its wide range of services, including repair and overhaul, engineering support, documentation and spare parts, Liebherr-Aerospace counts among the leading service providers for aircraft landing gear parts and components.

As per the five-year agreement, the German firm will provide repair and overhaul services for the landing gears of RJ’s 3 Embraer 175s and 5 Embraer 195s.

RJ president/CEO Amer Hadidi signed the agreement with Charles Thoyer-Rozat, the Executive VP, Customer Support & Services of Liebherr-Aerospace & Transportation SAS at this week’s Dubai MRO 2013 expo in Dubai (22-23 January 2013).

The overhaul program will be carried out at Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH facilities in Germany, granting Royal Jordanian accessibility to Liebherr stores for items and stocks needed for maintenance.

“We have selected Liebherr for their highly regarded reputation and long experience, in addition to the fact that they are the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the landing gears for our Embraer fleet, which is an added value in dealing with Liebherr,” said Hadidi.

Thoyer-Rozat said this long-term deal represents the start of the Embraer E-Jet landing gear overhaul campaign in the Middle East. "The Liebherr-Aerospace team in Lindenberg will be a reliable partner for RJ, delivering in due time with required quality," he noted.

Under the second deal, Messier-Bugatti-Dowty (Safran) will provide wheels and electric brakes for RJ's Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet, that are scheduled to start joining the fleet in August 2014, said Hadidi after signing the agreement with chairman and CEO of Messier-Bugatti-Dowty Alain Sauret.

Messier-Bugatti-Dowty electric brakes are not only lighter than competing products, they are also designed to deliver more landings per overhaul. It also supplies the main and nose landing gears for all Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

“Superior weight savings and operational performance were the deciding factor in choosing Messier-Bugatti-Dowty’s electric braking technology. This is crucial as the Boeing 787s will constitute a major part of our fleet when they will replace the currently operating A340s and A330s, operating on long-haul destinations,” said Hadidi.

“Since the entry into service of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, our electric brakes market share has continued to steadily increase, proving the maturity and operational reliability of a technology that was pioneered by Messier-Bugatti-Dowty,” said Sauret.

Meanwhile, Qatar Airways has also selected Messier-Bugatti-Dowty for the loan/exchange and overhaul of landing gear on all its Airbus fleet of A300-600, A319, A320, A321, A330 and A340-600 until 2021, representing over 60 shipsets.

The landing gears will be overhauled primarily through Messier-Bugatti-Dowty’s repair stations in France and the UK.