Korean Air wins 150 bln won U.S. helicopter maintenance deal

SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Yonhap) -- Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's biggest carrier, said Monday it has received a 150 billion won (US$136 million) helicopter maintenance order from the United States.

In the nine-year deal with the U.S. Department of Defense, Korean Air will be in charge of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) work for the life extension of the H-53E helicopters deployed to the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps in the Asia-Pacific region, the company said in a statement.

Last week, Korean Air signed a 290 billion won deal with the Department of Defense to supply MRO services for the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft operated by the U.S. air forces in South Korea and Japan.

The national flag carrier has been providing the MRO services for U.S. fighter jets, such as the F-15 and F-16, and transport aircraft like the A-10 Thunderbolt and Lockheed C-130 Hercules since 1978, it said.

On top of flight services, the national flag carrier also manufactures aircraft parts and supplies them to Airbus and Boeing. It began to supply parts to Boeing and Airbus in 1986 and 1987, respectively.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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