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| AAL Facility on KAIA |
AAL is proud to announce the opening of its newest
facility, the AAL Group, Ltd. hangar on the North Ramp of Kabul Afghanistan
International Airport (KAIA). Allow us to present our perspective on this venture and why this is a win for the
Afghans, the ISAF Coalition, and for our company.
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| The crowd gathers as the ceremony starts |
As
many may know, significant amounts of money, training, and resources have been poured
into developing the Afghan National Security Forces aviation capabilities. It should be pointed out, that with this
training, to date, there has been no plan to enable Afghan maintenance above the unit or organizational level. The ISAF coalition has enabled the Afghan National Security Forces to fly
and operate their aircraft and conduct their own repairs and scheduled maintenance. These repairs include the ability to conduct their own phase (300 hour) maintenance inspections, but stop short of any higher-level maintenance, such as overhauls, heavy or structural repairs, repair of repairables (RoR), or modifications. One
can imagine how the Afghan government would welcome a commercial venture on
their national airport to help fill this void. AAL has taken a
forward-thinking approach and has built a modern, state of the art hangar and emplaced a team of
best-qualified maintainers to bring a new heavy repair facility to Afghan soil.
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| CEO, Oleg Sirbu prepares to cut the ribbon |
With
the opening of this hangar, AAL intends to provide the government of Afghanistan
a choice and a voice in the overhaul of their new helicopters. As any nation
would, the Afghan Air force has voiced optimism and appreciation for the option to conduct
overhauls, structural repairs, and modifications at a local Interstate Aviation
Committee (IAC)/Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant (MMHP)-certified facility. This effort
will soon result in the development of Afghan jobs, and an increased technical knowledge
base of the local employees.
AAL’s bold step forward in the building of this hangar will pave the way for more efficient maintenance of Afghan helicopters, and offers a local community solution to an Afghan problem.
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| AAL CEO, Oleg Sirbu, invites Afghan Air Force Commander, MG Wahab and NATC-A Commander, BG Michele to take the ceremonial scissors |
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| Each participant keeps their piece of the ribbon |
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| Commander, 438th AEW/NATC-A Brig Gen Michele |
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| Opening remarks by Mr. Sirbu |
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| A technician works on bench test equipment |
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| Guest listen to the opening remarks |
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| The hangar includes multiple work areas and vast floor space |
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| A view from one of the upstairs offices |
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| Key personnel pose for photo in front of AAL's Mi-8 MTV-1 |
