SAMI Alsalam inks four Dubai Airshow deals to re-enter civil MRO and connectivity market.

Saudi Arabian Military Industries' subsidiary, SAMI Alsalam Aerospace Industries, signed four commercial aviation agreements at the Dubai Airshow 2025 on November 17, covering air-to-ground connectivity, heavy maintenance, and asset management with partners in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The move integrates civil aviation into the Vision 2030 defense and industrial ecosystem, quietly establishing a regional hub for integrated fleet support that can underpin both commercial and national security operations.

At the Dubai Airshow 2025 in Dubai World Central, SAMI Alsalam Aerospace Industries marked a return to the civil aviation market with four agreements that link cabin connectivity, heavy maintenance, and life cycle support into a single package of capabilities. Signed in the presence of senior Saudi aviation officials, including the president of the General Authority of Civil Aviation and SAMI group leadership, the deals with SkyFive Arabia, Jazeera Airways, ALPHASTAR Aviation, and ARTS Aviation Asset Management are already being framed in Riyadh as part of a broader Vision 2030 push to localize aerospace know how and reduce dependence on foreign MRO providers.
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In the business aviation segment, a separate memorandum with ALPHASTAR Aviation establishes a cooperation framework for maintenance, repair, and overhaul services aimed at operators of business, VIP, or special mission aircraft (Picture source: SAMI)

At the core of this set of agreements is the arrangement with SkyFive Arabia, which assigns to SAMI Alsalam the installation and testing of advanced Air to Ground (A2G) connectivity systems on Flynas aircraft, as well as on up to 120 additional aircraft for other operators. The scope includes equipment integration, wiring, and ground testing, with SAMI Alsalam acting as the exclusive modification and test partner for these systems in the region. Air-to-Ground (A2G) architectures rely on ground stations projecting the signal towards aircraft instead of using satellite links alone, which reduces latency and enables broadband services along dense air corridors where passengers now expect continuous connectivity. For an MRO company, mastering this type of cabin and avionics integration is a demanding task at the intersection of structures, electrical systems, and software configuration control.

The agreements also consolidate SAMI Alsalam’s position in heavy Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) through a memorandum with Jazeera Airways on the development of major check capabilities for the Kuwaiti carrier. For an airline fleet, MRO includes in-depth structural inspections, corrosion control, verification of landing gear and control surfaces, as well as full system testing beyond simple A or B checks. By hosting these programs on Saudi territory, SAMI Alsalam increases hangar utilization, stabilizes demand for skilled technicians, and builds expertise in narrowbody life cycle management. For Jazeera Airways, locating major checks in Saudi Arabia shortens logistics chains for parts and tooling while allowing better control over downtime for heavily used aircraft.

In the business aviation segment, a separate memorandum with ALPHASTAR Aviation establishes a cooperation framework for maintenance, repair, and overhaul services aimed at operators of business, VIP or special mission aircraft. Private jet fleets combine several aircraft types and cabin configurations, which requires the maintenance provider to manage in parallel different data sets, reliability profiles, and cabin systems. The partnership allows SAMI Alsalam to gain experience from within this market while giving ALPHASTAR’s clients an expanded regional maintenance network on Saudi soil. It also creates a natural link with state and military VIP fleets, where cabin refurbishment standards, mission equipment, and availability objectives are closer to government requirements than to the economic logic of low-cost carriers.

The fourth agreement, concluded with ARTS Aviation Asset Management FZCO, extends the scope beyond maintenance alone towards comprehensive life cycle support for several categories of aircraft. The two partners plan to cooperate in technical consultancy, maintenance, and supply chain support for components, repairable parts, and potentially engines. In such an arrangement, logistics support often includes pooled spare stocks, repair management for line replaceable units, and long term agreements that stabilize costs and parts availability over several years. For SAMI Alsalam, this relationship moves the company towards a model of integrated fleet support rather than simple in-house or time and material maintenance, which places it differently in the value chain and in negotiations with lessors and operators.

At the operational level, the combined effect of connectivity integration, heavy maintenance, and asset management capabilities becomes clearer than it may seem at first glance. Airlines that rely on a local provider for Air to Ground (A2G) installations can synchronize cockpit and cabin upgrades with C checks, which reduces aircraft downtime and avoids multiple groundings for the same airframe.

Connecting aircraft to A2G networks allows real-time transmission of technical data and flight parameters, which feeds predictive maintenance and more accurate fleet planning. In a crisis or during traffic peaks such as the Hajj season, a domestic MRO network with this level of integration helps preserve fleet availability and enables planners to adjust aircraft use quickly without losing hours in troubleshooting. For a state that is already investing in command and control chains, these civil capabilities are not isolated: connected fleets and robust maintenance data can, if required, feed into a broader Common Operational Picture (COP) and Recognized Maritime Picture (RMP) designed for national crisis management.

At the regional level, this development places Saudi Arabia more firmly in the Gulf competition for aeronautical services, traditionally dominated by hubs in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. A Saudi MRO and connectivity cluster built around SAMI Alsalam gives Riyadh and Jeddah a larger role in supporting the fleets that connect the wider markets of the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. For partners in Europe, North America, and Asia, the expansion of this ecosystem offers a more diversified range of industrial counterparts in the Kingdom, with clearer paths for interoperability and life cycle support of mixed civil and military fleets.

In terms of international security and defense, a more resilient Saudi commercial air transport backbone reinforces national air mobility options, crisis response capacity, and the ability to sustain prolonged air operations or evacuations while operating under stricter emissions control (EMCON) and cybersecurity constraints on data links. The four agreements concluded in Dubai therefore, lie at the intersection of air transport economics, industrial sovereignty, and long-term regional stability, well beyond the strictly commercial perimeter of the contracts.