Airbus takes full control of Sepang Aircraft Engineering

KUALA LUMPUR: Airbus SE took full control of  Malaysia’s Sepang Aircraft Engineering company after it purchased a 40% stake in 2011, according to the Wall Street Jounal (WSJ).

WSJ quoted Laurent Martinez, head of services at Airbus on Thursday that with the size of the global fleet of aircraft in service growing rapidly, the European plane maker is boosting its efforts to gain scale.

Airbus’s purchase of the repair facility in Kuala Lumpur is aimed at strengthening the European company’s plane-repair capability in Asia and helping the company innovate how it services planes, Martinez was quoted by WSJ as saying.

The plant employs around 500 people and has contracts with budget carrier AirAsia , India’s Indigo, and Scoot Tigerair Pte Ltd., a discount unit of Singapore Airlines .

Both Airbus and rival Boeing Co. are pushing to grab a greater share of the lucrative market for servicing airliners.