Sabena Aerospace and Blue Aerospace awarded Belgian Defence Organisation C-130 fleet contract

Sabena Aerospace, a BLUEBERRY group company, and Blue Aerospace, a HEICO company, announced today the award of the Belgian Defence C-130 aircraft fleet and associated equipment and inventory by the Belgian Defence Organisation. The award resulting from the Belgian Defence Tender No. MRMP – A/A2 N° 19AAV01 consist of all assets related to the Belgian Air Force C-130 fleet including, aircraft, engines, props, spare parts, ground support equipment, etc.

Stephane Burton, BLUEBERRY group President and Sabena Aerospace CEO commented: “The award will ensure Sabena Aerospace with continued guaranteed work for its C-130 maintenance line in Belgium as the Belgian Air Force moves operations to the A400 fleet. This will also provide the Belgium economy with a tangible return and allow Sabena Aerospace to expand its end-to-end C-130 support offer to new or existing C-130 operators. We are very pleased to be partnering with Blue Aerospace an industry leader in defence aftermarket support, and we see this as the beginning of an expanding and long-term relationship that will lead to other platforms and projects under the newly created BLUEBERRY group”.

Eric Mendelson, Co-President of HEICO Corporation and President & CEO of HEICO Flight Support Group commented, “we are very excited to team with BLUEBERRY and its subsidiary SABENA Aerospace. This purchase will further accelerate HEICO’s continued growth in the defence sustainment market, as we make the assets available for resale to end-users worldwide”.

Michael Navon, Blue Aerospace President commented: “We are delighted to team with Sabena Aerospace to facilitate market opportunities for the well-maintained fleet of C-130H aircraft, utilising the years of experience Sabena have maintained this fleet. We also see this as the beginning of a long-term cooperation with other BLUEBERRY portfolio companies”.

Informations about BLUEBERRY

BLUEBERRY was incorporated on 18 June 2020 by Sabena Aerospace and the Federal Holding and Investment Company. It has 4 sites (Zaventem, Haren, Gosselies and Lummen) active in more than 10 countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy, United States, Morocco, Tanzania, Congo RDC, Congo Brazzaville & Zimbabwe). Together they have more than 1200 employees in Belgium and abroad and have a cumulated turnover of 250M€. The ambition of BLUEBERRY is to create a unique industrial ecosystem in the aerospace industry through the consolidation of Belgian industrial assets, being resilient through diversity and through the development of new sources of value in high technology, critical niche products and services. Through its subsidiaries, BLUEBERRY is active in the design, development and manufacture of aviation and aerospace equipment, offers maintenance services for aircraft (Transport aircraft C-130, A400M), Fighter aircraft (F-16, Mirage, Alphajet, etc…), helicopters and UAVs and brings solutions to drive the sustainable development of the industry as a whole.

Brussels, Belgium and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, July 29, 2020