SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA—UK-based components and repairs specialist AJW Group has launched a new regional support hub and office in Mexico City aimed at better serving the Latin American and Caribbean markets.
On the sidelines of MRO Latin America in San Jose, Costa Rica, Wilmer Lopez, AJW Group’s regional sales director for Latin America, told Aviation Week that the new facility is expected to complement its existing North America operations, which include a warehouse in Miami and AJW Technique, its repair shop in Montreal.
“With this office in Mexico, we expect to have better access to allocate material to support our customers in a quicker way, not only in Mexico but in South America,” says Lopez. Noting that AJW Group spent time evaluating options for where to open a new Latin American hub, he adds that “one of the reasons we finally chose Mexico is because it has a massive logistics network,” citing the Mexican government’s shift of cargo operations from Mexico City International (MEX) to Felipe Ángeles International (NLU).
AJW Group says the new Latin American hub will extend its customer support and provide immediate access to a global inventory of Airbus and Boeing spare parts valued at $500 million, as well as engines and major assets, MRO services, nose-to-tail support solutions and contractual support negotiations.
“We definitely see in Mexico and South America an opportunity to develop local capability to support our customers in the region, and that would be in a later stage,” says Lopez. He adds that AJW plans to start conversations with “the key actors in the region from a commercial perspective” before potentially developing local capability in the near future, depending on customer demand. AJW Group holds power-by-the-hour contracts with Latin American carriers such as Flybondi, Arajet, Viva Aerobus, JetSmart and Azul.
AJW has already hired two staff for the Mexico City hub who will manage day-to-day operations for sales and repairs. “Our expectation is definitely to have more staff,” says Lopez. “It will, of course, depend on the growth of the business, but we are expecting to cover any demand coming from our customers.”
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