A report by Air Algerie Maintenance Department concluded that the engines of 6 Boeing airplanes of the new generation need urgent periodic maintenance to continue flying and operating flights, in a process that costs large sums of hard currency amid the company’s financial difficulties.

Sources at Air Algerie told Echorouk that 6 Boeing 737/800 airplanes are threatened to remain parked on the grounds of Algerian airports due to the approaching date set for periodic maintenance and the company’s lack of funds to carry out the required maintenance.

According to the details provided to Echorouk, the planes in question, known as the “New Generation -NG”, require urgent maintenance of the engines by changing parts of them so that they can continue flying, and the problem is that maintenance will most likely take place outside the country and maybe in European countries.

The cost of one engine for Boeing 737/800 aircraft, according to company sources, ranges between 10 to 12 million dollars, while the cost of maintenance abroad exceeds 5 million dollars per engine, which means that completely renewing the engines (12 engines) will cost about $120 million, while its maintenance will cost about $60 million.

As it is known, the Air Algerie fleet includes 25 Boeing 737/800 (new generation) airplanes, of which 6 have reached the mandatory periodic maintenance phase for engines (12 engines), while the periodic engine maintenance for 19 other airplanes has not yet arrived.

The same sources from Air Algérie told Echorouk that the difficulty is that the company lacks financial liquidity due to the Corona crisis, which has greatly reduced its activity despite the resumption of international flights to some destinations, but it remains far from the pace at which it was operating before the spread of the Corona pandemic.

For reference, the plan for the development and restructuring of Air Algerie includes 7 steps, of which only those related to the establishment of branches (shipping, feeding and maintenance) were completed, and 6 stages remained idle, on top of which is the review of agencies abroad, as ordered by the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, in addition to the renewal of the fleet through the acquisition of 30 new airplanes for 250 billion dinars (nearly $2 billion).

echoroukonline