Sri Lanka designs aircraft solutions for the world
Sri Lanka is the proud home to AmSafe Bridport, one of the leading manufacturers and designers of complex aircraft solutions which has expanded continuously since starting in 2001 with an initial investment of Rs. 500 million.
Providing solutions from fueling an aircraft in-flight to fire containment covers that could resolve the issue of laptop bans on airlines in the US, this US owned company by Transdigm is today given autonomy in running its operations from Sri Lanka, AmSafe Bridport Sri Lanka General Manager Chandani Ekanayaka said in an interview with the Business Times.
All major aircraft manufacturers and a number of international airlines are customers of this company including carriers like British Airways, American Airlines, KLM, Air France, Japanese Airlines and All Nippon Airlines, she said. The company is located at the Wathupitiwala Export Processing Zone at Nittambuwa.
Aviation products like cargo pallet nets are manufactured here to hold a pallet including tie-down straps used to transport cargo, it was explained.
These products required European, American and Chinese regulatory bodies’ approvals that is obtained independent of the parent company to design these to the required international standards, Ms. Ekanayaka said.
This company has been able to provide solutions like fore containments that could help in using a cover that can hold 800 degrees Celsius inside the cover and “with the recent ban people come to us for the solution that has gained approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) having entered the market after eight years of research,” the Sri Lanka GM said.
Five years back they entered the market with the product as a result of which the market is growing, she noted.
Ms. Ekanayake said that while for some products they do have competitors on the other hand they work on giving customized solutions designed by their engineers working closely with the aircraft manufacturers understanding their complicated solutions.
In the case of certain aircraft manufacturers designing a new carrier, AmSafe would provide a new design solution to their varied requirements that would take from three to six years for project completion, the GM noted.
One particular aircraft manufacturer had required a design solution from AmSafe which is a Tier one supplier to them, for refueling an aircraft by another aircraft.
She noted that for this they needed to provide the required capacity to carry a lot of fuel and fire protection solutions between the pilots and the goods with a barrier net. The barrier net was designed in the UK and manufactured in Sri Lanka and that which could hold the moving load affecting crew. These were specifically for military aircraft that the aircraft manufacturer had taken a contract on producing.
They manufacture some of the products to do finishing and then gradually the company expanded taking over design and currently AmSafe is directly dealing with almost all customers.
She explained that in this respect, they have obtained aircraft manufacturers’ approval and the required regulatory approvals to deliver to airlines and can work independently.
AmSafe is built to design solutions to securely transport cargo and people by air, Ms. Ekanayaka said. The Sri Lanka unit is part of UK-based AmSafe Britport which is turn is owned by Transdigm based in the US.