AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE business Dublin Aerospace has won a multimillion euro contract with Aer Lingus to carry out checks on 12 A320 aircraft from November 1st in a move that will create 50 new jobs.

The contract was won following a tender process for a portion of Aer Lingus’s base maintenance requirements in Ireland and continental Europe this coming winter.

The remainder of Aer Lingus’s base maintenance services will continue to be carried out by Sabena Technics (SNT) in Bordeaux under an existing contract.

Dublin Aerospace was founded by former Ryanair executive Conor McCarthy and opened for business last year following the closure here of SR Technics. It employs about 100 workers, of which 75 are permanent staff.

Commenting on the contract, Aer Lingus chief operating officer Trevor Jensen said: “Aer Lingus has availed of Dublin Aerospace services since its inception and we have been impressed with their capability and high reliability.”

Mr McCarthy, Dublin Aerospace’s executive chairman, said the contract award was “fantastic news” for the business and would help it “attract even more business in the years ahead.

Separately, Sky Handling Partner, one of the State’s biggest ground-handling companies, has created 50 new jobs at Dublin airport.

It now employs more than 300 workers at Dublin and Shannon airports.

The jobs, which consist of check-in and aircraft service positions in its ground operations division, have come on stream over the past three months.

Sky Handling said the positions were the result of increases to the flight schedules of customer airlines.

“The volume of flights scheduled for the summer at Dublin airport has increased 10 to 12 per cent on last year and Aer Arann’s deal to operate some of Aer Lingus’s regional flights has also boosted business for us,” Sky Handling’s managing director Darren Moloney said.

Sky Handling Partner is owned by French company Groupe Crit.