PARIS, France -- GE On Wing Support, Inc., a subsidiary of GE Engine Services, Inc., and Asiana Airlines, Inc., of Korea, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to evaluate the formation of GE's first North Asian On Wing SupportSM center at Asiana's Kimpo Airport facility in Seoul, South Korea.
Using Asiana's repair facility at Kimpo, the GE On Wing Support Center under consideration would provide on wing engine support and services similar to those offered by GE On Wing Support centers worldwide. To that end, GE would make a significant capital investment over the next three years that would materially enhance the maintenance capability of the center, as well as improve the reliability of Asiana operations.
GE's On Wing Support centers provide quick and efficient on wing engine maintenance and repair by dispatching rapid response teams to airline customers at any location in the world, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. GE On Wing Support facilities are also capable of handling quick "hospital shop" repairs, such as replacing low-pressure turbines, high-pressure turbines, combustors, fans and boosters.
The eight GE On Wing Support centers in operation are located in the U.K. at Heathrow and Luton Airports; in China at GE On Wing Support (Xiamen) in Fujian Province; in Kuala Lumpur; and, in the United States, at the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, near Cincinnati, Ohio; JFK Airport in New York; Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas; and Miami, Florida. Plans call for more than ten additional sites by 2000.