Tokyo. 21 March 2019. Japan Airlines (JAL) has signed a multi-year IMS contract with Airbus subsidiary Satair for a long- term, fully-integrated end-to-end supply chain package covering expendable material for the airline’s new fleet of Airbus A350s. The service will commence from June 2019 in line with the delivery of the first of 31 A350XWBs (18 A350-900s and 13 A350-1000s plus options for a further 25 aircraft) on order with the airline. First service planned for the new aircraft will be in September 2019 on the Tokyo Haneda-Fukuoka route. The service to be provided by Satair will be covering all airframe expendables for the aircraft and will be provided through an on-site stock to JAL. The service includes planning, sourcing, purchasing, logistics and inventory management. Atsushi Maeda, Executive Procurement Officer of Japan Airlines said at the contract signing ceremony: ” The A350 aircraft will play an important role for JAL. We believe this agreement will provide us stable and safe operations at the highest level for our valued customers. Furthermore, it provides us an added advantage to optimize our maintenance costs, while enhancing the long-term partnership with Satair.”IMS was introduced by Satair as a strategic initiative to respond to customers’ growing requirements for a fully-integrated expendable inventory. This enables customers to focus on their core activities of operating and/or maintaining the aircraft. IMS is a flexible and fully-customizable solution that is developed in close collaboration with the airline to create a true partnership. With IMS, Satair is directly involved in supporting the aircraft availability, which goes well beyond a traditional customer-supplier relationship. Paul Lochab, Chief Commercial Officer of Satair stated: “We are delighted to welcome JAL to the growing number of Asia-Pacific airlines who have selected our IMS offering. With this IMS agreement we have set the foundation stone for a long-lasting trustful partnership to accomplish the common goal of having a successful A350 entry into service with JAL and a long-term successful operation with the aircraft.” He added: “IMS combines in its forecasting and planning activities worldwide operator’s consumption data with Airbus OEM technical knowledge. Through large purchasing volumes IMS is able to provide competitive parts pricing. IMS commits to material availability for expendables and will be able to reduce and stabilize JAL’s total cost of ownership.”