3-month teardown of B737-800 at Bii-aero centre
19 February 2020: To meet the ever increasing global demand of spares and commercial parts Bii-aero has purchased the B737-800 airframe for immediate teardown and part-out. As a part of robust business strategy, Bii’s CEO Francis Cradock, and his team will be incorporating one aircraft per month to sustain Bii’s high-quality inventory of commercial parts.
The twenty-year-old aircraft (MSN28381) was previously owned by lessor Aircastle and operated by Indonesian carrier, Sriwijaya
“We are ready to source aircraft to fulfil our plan and this is the first of several” said Cradock. “The B737-800 aircraft type is ‘flying to the end’ as the on-going MAX situation continues to affect operators and MROs, and there is a general shortage of parts to keep the global fleet flying. As a business we have historically specialised in Boeing spare components so we have a particular affinity with the type, however our teardown strategy encompasses both Airbus and Boeing wide and narrow body aircraft as we have an expanding inventory of spares for leading airline customers.”
The aircraft is undergoing teardown at ComAv Technical Services in Victorville, California. In a predicted 3-month process, all parts will be carefully assessed by Bii’s technical team before being sent to specialist repair shops for overhaul, testing and re-certification as necessary. Category A material will go into Bii’s exchange and lease pool. Key components such as the APU will be sold and packages of parts will available for sale and consignment.
“The business is growing fast” commented Justin Blockley, Commercial Director – Bii. “We’re continuing to secure contracts with major operators and as a result, we have increased our activities in various parts of the world to support this. From an engine perspective we currently have CFM56-3b, and -3c1 material on site available for sales or exchange and we have the capacity to expand the engine types on offer via consignment stock, or other partner programmes with lessors and OEMs.
“The material generated by our ambitious teardown strategy spearheaded by the current B737-800 is designed to deliver a regular throughput of rotables that will be sourced, certified, and managed by Bii. As a result our team of qualified asset managers, repair technicians and logistics specialists will expand to match our growing inventory. We see exciting times ahead.”
Over the past year Bii has seen a rapid growth in sales and exchanges of parts. The introduction of an engine department in Spring 2019 was a logical step for the business and the active marketing of Rostrum Leasing’s disassembled ‘end-of-life’ CFM56-3 and CF6 engine and airframe material from Bii’s warehouse near LGW has been a huge success.
