MANCHESTER – The Thomas Cook livery flew again this week, but only temporarily, as the aircraft headed back to Toronto with Air Transat.
C-GTCY, the Air Transat Airbus A321, became the first customer of STS Aviation and performed maintenance on the aircraft.
The aircraft headed into Manchester on October 31st and subsequently departed back to Toronto on December 7 as TSC41.
AviationSource photographer Harrison Rowe got photos of the aircraft departing Manchester earlier this week, which you can see below:
The reason why this aircraft is in the Thomas Cook livery is that it used to belong to the airline, which was registered as G-TCDC.
Strong Start for STS Engineering…
Ian Radford, the VP of Technology for STS Aviation Services, had this to say back on October 18, when the expansion into Manchester was announced:
“It was more than one year ago when STS first engaged with the relevant stakeholders for the facility. At that time, we set a go-live target for the first week of November, and we are now at that point”.
“I am extremely proud to have led this project. Seeing all the hard work come to fruition has been an amazing experience.”
“It is known how quickly a hangar facility and all the systems can deteriorate when not in use for several years, and STS has worked incredibly hard to bring the facility back to life.”
“This has been achieved with great partners, fully engaged stakeholders, our wonderful staff, and some remarkable equipment, systems, and tools.”
“We have built a solid base for MRO in Manchester with space to grow. In addition to reaching our go-live target date, STS Aviation Services also received audit closure for its first C rating.”
“Here, we will build back-shop capabilities to go along with our sizeable engine shop and its B rating.”
STS Has Big Plans for That Hangar…
Ahead of the maintenance that we will see STS doing out of that hangar, the bigger news for Manchester Airport is the General Terms Agreement that they signed with Mammoth Freighters.
Under this agreement, STS will perform passenger-to-freighter conversions for the Mammoth 777 programs, which cover -200LR and -300ER aircraft.
It is understood that this is due to begin in 2024.
Commenting on this deal at the time was David Steinmetz, Mammoth’s Senior VP of Operations:
“Ensuring that we have the right modification capacity in place around the world to meet the robust demand for the Mammoth 777 freighter program is vital to our success”.
“STS has the experience, knowledge, capability, and, most importantly, the high-quality reputation that we look for in an MRO partner. We are excited to have STS on our team and look forward to a productive, long-term relationship.”
Overall, all of this is major news for the MRO side of Manchester Airport, and it will no doubt continue to grow, especially with the Mammoth Freighters deal as well going into the future.
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