Abu Dhabi's Sanad signs $408 million jet engines sale deal with Etihad Airways

The 16 Rolls-Royce, GE and IAE engines will power the airline's Boeing 787s, Airbus A380s, A320 and A350 aircraft

Etihad Airways and Sanad's partnership began in 2003. Photo: Etihad Airways

Abu Dhabi's Sanad, the global aerospace engineering and leasing unit owned by Mubadala Investment Company, has signed a Dh1.5 billion ($408 million) deal to sell 16 jet engines to Etihad Airways to power a mix of wide-body and narrow-body aircraft.

The deal includes nine GEnx engines for Boeing 787 aircraft, five Engine Alliance GP7200 engines for Airbus A380s, one Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine for Airbus A350 and one International Aero Engines (IAE) V2500 engine for the Airbus A320, Sanad said on Tuesday.

“This is really a significant transaction. We are selling 16 engines back to Etihad, where Etihad was the lessee and we were the lessor and it's quite a diversified set of engines,” Mansoor Janahi, managing director and group chief executive of Sanad, said.

“The significance of it to me is that it checks so many boxes in the sense that it really shows the depth and strength of the aviation and aerospace industries in Abu Dhabi where you've got basically two of Abu Dhabi's aviation giants that have been transacting together collectively … [Etihad Airways] is a key partner and they continue to play a key role with us.”

Sanad and Etihad Airways' partnership began in 2003.

“The acquisition of these engines marks a key milestone for Etihad as we continue maintaining a world-class fleet that drives our growth,” said Antonoaldo Neves, chief executive of Etihad Airways. “This transaction is also a reminder of the strong synergy between Sanad and Etihad Airways spanning two decades.”

Sanad has conducted maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services on Etihad’s fleet of aircraft engines, totalling more than 400 engines, including V2500, Trent 700, which power Airbus aircraft and GEnx models that power Boeing aircraft. To date, Sanad's MRO transactions with Etihad Airways have exceeded Dh6 billion.

Globally, Sanad works with more than 30 major airlines and has partnerships with major engine-manufacturers.

The company is bullish on its outlook for growth as airlines experiencing delays in new aircraft deliveries are not retiring older planes, which require complex maintenance and parts.

“If you look at the business post-Covid, and even pre-Covid, the business has been on a strong growth trajectory and the growth has been emphasised by multiple factors and these factors are still at play even on a going-forward basis,” Mr Janahi said.

“So what was the premise of the growth trajectory in the last five years and what we will continue to see in the next five years? There has been a strong demand for the capabilities of Sanad to address, not just the local market, but also the global market.”

A shortage of parts, workers and new aircraft as the aviation industry emerged from the Covid pandemic has intersected with higher-than-expected repairs for new-generation engines, creating greater demand for the services of MRO providers.

“This is a sector that is highly regulated. This is a sector where barriers to entry are very high and this is a sector where credibility and the trust of the OEMs [Original Equipment Manufacturers] are extremely important,” Mr Janahi said.

“One thing we are extremely proud of today at Sanad is that we have earned the trust of all the major engine OEMs. Today we work with every major engine OEM in the aerospace industry.

“What does this mean for our growth story? What this means is that they want additional capacity,” the Sanad boss said.

MRO has become a “choke point” for commercial aviation and the capacity shortage is likely to get worse, according to a study by consultancy Bain & Company published in July.

Aircraft engine MRO demand will probably reach a near-term peak in 2026 and remain constrained through the end of the decade, according to Jim Harris, co-leader of Bain’s global aerospace and defence practice.