24 October 2018 · AV I A T I O N B U S I N E S S http://www.aviationbusinessme.com
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Joramco’s CEO shares insights on the company’s
‘transformation’ since DAE secured a majority stake
in the MRO fi rm
By Alexander Sophoclis Pieri
Jeff Wilkinson, CEO of Joramco.F
ollowing Dubai Aerospace
Enterprise’s (DAE) majority
stake acquisition (80%) in
Joramco back in 2016, the
Jordanian MRO specialist has been in
a state of transformation. In addition
to an extensive rebranding exercise
and the adoption of a new corporate
identity, the company has made great
strides towards improving its core
service.
Thanks to the continuous support
from DAE, Joramco has not only refur-
bished its existing facilities but has also
expanded with new infrastructure and
the addition of new tooling equipment.
Coupled with the company’s geo-
graphical advantage of being at the mid-
point between Europe and the Middle
East, the recent improvements played
a vital factor in Joramco’s performance
over the past couple of years. While
conti nu i ng to d raw busi ness f rom across
the Gulf and India, the MRO specialist
has also garnered signifi cant business
from the European market as of late.
“There is a huge leverage based
around the geographical location. It is
just a fact that we are three hours from
Europe, three hours from the Middle
East. Perfect for capturing the European
market and maintaining what we al-
ready have in the Gulf,” comments Jeff
Wilkinson, CEO of Joramco.
The CEO went on to explain that a
number of European carriers have begun
to sea rc h for more cost- effi cient alterna-
tives for their maintenance, over what
is available in their home market.
The fact that Joramco has at the same
time focused on developing its cabin shop
capabilities, has left the company in a
position to capitalise on the opportunity.
“One thing as the European customers
have come i nto play is that they a re qu ite
specifi c with their cabin specifi cations
and what they expect. So we focused on
infrastructure improvements around ad-
ditional equipment to ensure the cabin ca-
pabilities are there; new leather machines,
carpet cutting machines, and structural
components, etc,” comments Wilkinson.
As a result of recent improvements,
Joramco has experienced a 30% increase
in year-on-year revenues over 2018, aswell as a doubling of its net profi ts.
Servicing roughly 160 heavy inputs in
this year alone, the MRO fi rm reportedly
had at one point seven national fl ight
carriers present in their facilities.
Another key area that Joramco has
been focused on is adding new capabili-
ties to service diff erent aircraft variants.
One of its recent additions is geared to-
wards the Boeing 787 aircraft, an aircraft
that is widely used in the Middle East
region, as well as by Royal Jordanian,
which holds a 20% stake in Joramco.
The company also secured European
Av iation Sa fet y Agenc y (EASA) approv-
al for the Boeing 737 MAX. Currently,
the fi rm is moving to secure approval
for the Airbus A320neo, as well as the
Boeing 777.