Sanad (Mubadala Group), a specialist in engine MRO services based in Abu Dhabi, has announced that it has won a five-year contract with AirAsia X for the maintenance of Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines powering its fleet of Airbus A330s.

The MRO company says the agreement strengthens its presence in the Asia-Pacific region, one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets.

AirAsia X currently operates a fleet of 26 Airbus A330-300s (19 based in Malaysia and 9 in Thailand). Some of these aircraft have not been reactivated, and are currently without engines, notably at the KLIA2 terminal in Kuala Lumpur. The long-haul low-cost carrier plans to reactivate them in the coming months, and may even add more aircraft.

Sanad, formerly TS&S (Turbine Services & Solutions), whose origins date back to the former ADAT (Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies), has a wide range of capabilities, both on conventional jet engines (Trent 700, V2500, GE90) and the latest generation (GEnx, LEAP). It has a contract with Rolls-Royce as an authorized independent center, specifically for the Trent 700, with a capacity of around 75 overhauls a year.