--EVENDALE, Ohio - GE Engine Services and Eva Airways Corporation have
executed a Memorandum of Agreement regarding the formation of an engine
overhaul and aircraft maintenance joint venture, Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corporation, located in
Taiwan. GE and Eva officials signed the Memorandum of Agreement on Tuesday, February 24, in Tapei. Closing of
the transaction is planned to occur in June 1998, subject to execution of definitive agreements and the receipt
of certain approvals.Eva, Taiwan's second-largest carrier, will be the majority owner of
the joint venture. The new company, located at the Eva maintenance facility
in Taiwan, will provide engine overhaul and aircraft maintenance services
for Eva and other airlines from the Asia-Pacific region.GE Engine Services, the industry leader in total aviation services,
in 1997 received orders worth more than $3.6 billion, representing a $1.0
billion, or 38 percent, order increase over 1996. Also in 1997, GE Engine
Services won multi-year maintenance and overhaul contracts worth more than
$6 billion, representing an increase of more than 45 percent over 1996.The first service provider to recognize that airlines are refocusing
efforts on moving passengers and looking for outside services for engine
maintenance and repair, GE Engine Services is making major global investments
to provide value to customers. Recent investments, designed to help customers
manage future costs, increase engine time on wing, and lower the overall
cost of ownership, include:
- Acquiring Greenwich Air Services, Inc. and UNC Inc. in September 1997.
Greenwich, a jet maintenance and overhaul company that services primarily
large commercial engines, operates eight facilities in the United States
and Scotland. UNC Inc. primarily maintains and overhauls smaller engines
for corporate and military aircraft. UNC Inc. includes Garrett Aviation
Services;
- Enhancing GE Engine Services' capabilities in the Pacific Rim with
the creation of AERO '97, a joint venture between GE and Malaysian Airline
Systems Berhad, located in Kuala Lumpur.
- Opened Airfoil Technologies Singapore, a subsidiary of Airfoil Technologies
International, the joint venture between GE Aircraft Engines and Sermatech
International. Airfoil Technologies maintains its headquarters in the U.S.
in Cincinnati, Ohio, and operates additional plants in: Mentor, Ohio; Compton,
California; and Ripley, Derbyshire, U.K. The Singapore facility, which
will be able to process more than one million airfoils per year with industry-leading turnaround times,
opened during the Asian Aerospace '98 air show in Singapore;
- Expanding GE On-Wing Support, Inc., a subsidiary of GE Engine Services.
Providing rapid response to airline customers worldwide 24 hours a day,
365 days a year, On-Wing SupportSM will open additional sites in Dallas,
New York, and Miami. On-Wing Support already operates from: Heathrow Airport in London, U.K.; Luton Airport,
near London and the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, near Cincinnati, Ohio.
With headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A., GE Engine Services provides
comprehensive overhaul and repair of aircraft engines, components, and
accessories of GE Aircraft Engines, the engines of CFM International, the
50/50 joint company of Snecma of France and General Electric Company of
the United States, as well as engines produced by other manufacturers.