Airbus in running to buy Safe Air unit

Airbus is in line to bid to replace New Zealand's ageing Hercules fleet. Photo / NZ Defence Force

European aerospace giant is believed to be eyeing Air NZ’s Blenheim-based engineering subsidiary.

European aerospace giant Airbus is believed to be in the running to buy Air New Zealand's Safe Air engineering subsidiary.

Blenheim-based Safe Air does upgrade and maintenance work for the Royal New Zealand Air Force as well as for other military and commercial aircraft operators around the world.

The engineering base has long been deemed non-core to Air New Zealand's business and the company has been looking for a buyer for several years.

Safe Air has carried out more than 90 per cent of the RNZAF's heavy maintenance since 1998.

Airbus Group Australia Pacific has expanded its aircraft maintenance operations across the Tasman in the past two years and taking over the Safe Air operation could be part of its expansion in this region. The Toulouse-based planemaker is in line to bid to replace New Zealand's ageing Hercules fleet with its new heavy military transport aircraft, the A400M, when tenders are opened within the next few years.

Air New Zealand has talked to potential buyers but chief operations officer Bruce Parton would not discuss who they were and said the airline had not signed any deal.

"Air New Zealand has been looking at how to best position the Safe Air business for future success, including potentially identifying a partner that is better placed than us to grow the business in its specialist area of military engineering support," he said.

An Airbus spokesman in Sydney would not comment on the possible purchase. A spokesman for Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee referred inquiries to Air New Zealand.

Primarily a helicopter maker in Australia, Airbus Group employs more than 1300 people across 15 sites in Australia and New Zealand. It supports more than 500 Airbus helicopters and provides "through-life support" for military fixed-wing aircraft as well, including Australian Air Force Hercules and Orions.

When in 2007 Safe Air won a $110 million, six-year contract to work on RNZAF planes, about 350 people worked there. Staff numbers have been cut since.