Building on its reputation as a completions specialist, Switzerland-based Amac Aerospace is taking on a growing portfolio of maintenance work. The company expanded the scope of its work when it secured FAA repair station status in June and will open a fourth hangar at its Basel headquarters by year-end.

So far this year, Amac’s maintenance team has been busy handling heavy base checks for a mix of airliner-class private and head-of-state aircraft, including a pair of Airbus A320s, an A340, an A330-200, an A319, a couple of Boeing Business Jets and a 777-200. It has also worked on a Bombardier Global Express operated by a head-of-state flight department.

In many cases, owners elect to combine maintenance with projects to improve cabin interiors and the installation of new equipment. For instance, in late September, a private A320 arrived in Basel for a landing-gear overhaul and seat refurbishment. Another A320 operator took advantage of a heavy base maintenance check to upgrade the aircraft’s satellite communications and cabin connectivity.

 Like a lot of non-U.S. maintenance providers, Amac faced a long delay in getting FAA-approved repair station status rooted in U.S. government restrictions imposed on foreign repair stations. “When this policy changed there was a long line of companies trying to get approved, and so we had to wait,” explained Amac COO Bernd Schramm. In the end, the approval did not involve any significant additional requirements beyond the company’s existing EASA certification.

The U.S. approval for the company’s Basel headquarters covers the same aircraft types: a mix of Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier and Gulfstream jets. It clears Amac to support N-registered aircraft based in Europe or being operated outside the U.S. Separately, Amac’s facility in Istanbul, Turkey, is currently awaiting FAA clearance.

Amac aspires to authorized service center status with one or more business aircraft manufacturers, but Schramm acknowledged that these OEMs are generally reluctant to add too many more new facilities in the same region. “On the completions side of our business we have established a good name for Amac and have shown that we can deliver high-quality projects on time,” he told AIN. “The same level of service is available for maintenance work and our customers feel they are in good hands.”