Cyprus Airways (CY) said yesterday it had received assurances that none of its planes had been tampered with by a suspected saboteur operating at an aircraft maintenance plant in Brussels.
Earlier this week Belgian police opened an investigation into serious airplane maintenance errors at Sabena, which Belgian authorities say could amount to attempted sabotage by a disgruntled employee who was made redundant..
But CY spokesman Kyriacos Kyriacou told the Mail that although the airline currently has an Airbus A320 at Sabena’s Technics unit in Brussels, they had received assurances that the jet has not been tampered with.
He said CY’s planes are usually serviced at Sabena’s facilities in France, but this time round it happened that the plane in question was sent to Belgium.
« In any case, we have our own engineers there monitoring the maintenance checks, and Sabena has told us that all the planes in their hangars are being monitored by security cameras, « Kyriacou said.
The A320 should be returned to Cyprus sometime in the next few days, he added.
A spokesman for Belgium’s Transport Secretary said the defects at Sabena Technics “could not just be the result of neglect but could have had serious consequences.”
Sabena Technics specialises in the maintenance of civil and military planes.
Sabena Technics Managing Director Willy Buysse told VTM network the defects were in “non-critical systems” like intercoms. The defects were discovered and corrected after an in-house security check and before the planes were returned to the airline companies.
The company is planning to lay off 350 of its 1,100 employees at the Brussels terminal and there are fears a disgruntled worker might be responsible for the action. The work force went on strike early Tuesday to protest the planned layoffs.
“A deliberate act is not ruled out,” said Secretary of State for Transport Etienne Schouppe. The damages uncovered during internal quality audits were “highly visible and non-critical,” stressed the company. “These anomalies could in no way have jeopardized the safety of the aircraft,” it added.
In 2007 Cyprus’ flag carrier signed a three-year contract with Sabena for the heavy maintenance of Airbus A319 & A320 aircraft.
CY has always outsourced heavy maintenance on its planes, since it lacks the infrastructure and technical know-how for this type of service. Every plane in the fleet undegoes heavy maintenance once a year.
Before switching to Sabena, CY had maintenance contracts with companies based in Israel and Lebanon. Sources said that the airline was not too impressed with the service provided by these Middle Eastern countries.
The annual check-up can cost anywhere from €3 to €5 million euros per plane. A damaged engine alone can cost up to €4 million to repair.
Cyprus’ national carrier currently has a fleet of 11 jets, consisting of two A330s, two A319s and seven A320s.
In a bid to cut costs, CY has already sold one A320, with plans to sell two more, replacing them with rentals.
The demise of airlines in the wake of the fuel price crisis, and lately the credit crunch, has made several new jets available for rental at affordable prices.
