Serco and Cardiff Aviation team up to provide surface finish services

Serco and Cardiff Aviation have teamed up to provide surface finish services to commercial and public sector organisations in the aerospace, engineering and automotive sectors from a new facility at St Athan, Cardiff Airport Enterprise Park, South Wales.

The enterprise combines Serco's experience in the highly specialised military aerospace re-finishing sector with Cardiff Aviation's rapidly developing maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services. 

From a modern on-site facility at St Athan, fully qualified staff are able to spray finish a variety of aircraft panels and component parts, including flaps, doors, nacelles and interiors, as well as vehicles, ranging from small trucks to large JCBs.  The new service uses high-performance paint finish products and is designed to provide the highest quality to customers at competitive prices.

The two companies are also exploring further opportunities to deploy their collective experience and technical expertise to the wider aviation sector and further invest in St Athan, which is within one of the seven Welsh Government's Enterprise Zones.

Serco currently provides aircraft, vehicle and component refurbishment services for the Ministry of Defence at seventeen sites across the UK and St Athan is a welcome addition to this existing capability. The company also runs the Airfield Fire and Rescue Service, including the Fire Training Academy at nearby Cardiff Airport.

Karen Smart, Serco's Director Front Line Command said:  "Serco has extensive experience in the military aerospace re-finishing sector and we have worked with the RAF for many years.  This agreement with Cardiff Aviation means that we can bring that capability and expertise to the commercial aerospace and vehicle markets, whilst also supporting growth and regeneration in South Wales."

Mario Fugoni, Chief Executive of Cardiff Aviation, explained how Serco's expertise will enhance the Company's MRO services to the aviation industry: "This is a great opportunity for us to develop a comprehensive painting capability on-site adjacent to our hangar facility and provide additional services to our MRO customers, as well as servicing UK aerospace industry needs in this sector.  It is the first step towards expanding our painting capability towards spraying aircraft at Cardiff in the future."