The venture will heavily involve NASTECH, the technical arm of the NAS group, and Lufthansa Technik.
The announcement was made at a ceremony attended by Ayed Al-Jeaid, chairman of NAS, Sulaiman bin Abdullah Al-Hamdan, chief executive officer (CEO) of NAS, August Wilhelm Henningsen, chairman of the executive board of Lufthansa Technik AG, and Walter Heerdt, senior vice president of marketing and sales for Lufthansa Technik.
“This unique agreement is aiming at developing the technical capability of NASTECH to enhance its services to sister companies such as nasair, NASJets and other projects managed by NAS,” Al-Jeaid said.
“Also, this agreement shall boost NASTECH’s ability to serve other potential aviation companies within the region according to international standards under the supervision of our strategic partner Lufthansa Technik, either in our locations in the Kingdom or through technical training for our staff at Lufthansa Technik premises in Hamburg.”
Al-Jeaid described the joint projects as a rare opportunity for young Saudis to improve their knowledge.
"Such an opportunity was even rarer since all aviation services within the region were limited to the public sector only," he noted.
In his brief address, Henningsen said that the company took into account NAS’ reputation and performance over the last 10 years as a leader in the field of private aviation in Saudi Arabia.
"NAS’ management has an ambitious vision and Lufthansa Technik is confident of its successful implementation."
He pointed out that these aspects favored Lufthansa Technik’s decision to sign an agreement, bearing in mind the growing scale of the aviation market in the Gulf region.
“Through this cooperation, we are confident of jointly increasing our market share” he added.
“This agreement is the result of long negotiations between the two companies for more than two years, and we are proud and happy with this cooperation with Lufthansa Technik that shows Lufthansa’s respect of the ability of NAS to expand and absorb such advanced technology,” Al-Hamdan.
The agreement is divided into two implementation phases, said Al-Hamdan.
