AMAC Aerospace Istanbul completes over 400 projects in 2025, adds FAA approval for Falcon 6X

AMAC Aerospace Istanbul, the Istanbul Ataturk Airport (ISL) maintenance facility of AMAC Aerospace, completed more than 400 projects in 2025, including 20 on the newly introduced Dassault Falcon 6X. Line and base maintenance activity for the Falcon 7X and 8X series also increased significantly, and the facility reached its highest number of C checks in a single year since it was established.

The facility is an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Authorized Service Center for the Pilatus PC-12 and PC-24 and for the Dassault Falcon 6X, 7X and 8X series, 900 and 2000. Its hangar can hold up to three Falcons or four Pilatus aircraft at once, and the company's own materials put it at 1,200 m² while the article puts it at 1,500 m². It provides maintenance, engineering services, refurbishment and aircraft sales, and the wider group also operates maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities in Switzerland, Turkey, the UK, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

The facility obtained national Falcon 6X approval more than a year ago and has since supported Turkish customers. In 2026 it extended its 6X capabilities to include Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval, with approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) expected to follow. In the company's ratings list, the Falcon 6X (line maintenance) is marked as held under the Turkish DGCA only.

According to Öztürk, who spoke to AeroTime, the Istanbul operation began in 2010, when the company sought to become a Pilatus Sales Center for Southeastern Europe and the Middle East. A feasibility study then showed demand for Dassault Falcon maintenance in the region, and the scope was widened to cover both Pilatus and Dassault aircraft. Öztürk attributed the rise in C checks to growing customer awareness after more than 14 years of maintenance activity, a larger number of business aircraft operating in the region, and the Dassault Authorized Service Center network.

In 2025 the facility's goTeams, which provide out-of-base AOG support, were dispatched 30 times within Turkey and internationally. Customers supported in the past year were in Italy, the Maldives, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia. When the Dassault Command Center sends an AOG request, AMAC Aerospace Istanbul is required to respond within two hours, whether or not it can ultimately provide the support. Öztürk said technicians can be deployed from Istanbul to Central Europe, Northern Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East in about four hours of flight time.

Öztürk also said newer-generation Falcons are maintained differently from earlier models such as the Falcon 7X and 900EX: documentation is more digitalized, electronic tools and systems are used more heavily, maintenance intervals are longer, and cybersecurity has become more important with the introduction of Part-IS requirements for aircraft such as the Falcon 6X. He called the stabilizer dimensional check, which examines the rear hinge bushings without removing the horizontal stabilizer and vertical fin, one of the most technically demanding tasks in Dassault maintenance.

The Istanbul case shows how an OEM-authorized service center grows alongside the fleet it serves. As a new type such as the Falcon 6X enters service, the facility that gains approvals early also picks up the line, base and AOG work that follows, and approvals are added regulator by regulator rather than all at once. Here the national Turkish approval came first, FAA approval followed in 2026, and EASA approval is the step still expected.

The stated drivers of the record C-check year are customer awareness, more business aircraft operating in the region, and referrals through the Dassault Authorized Service Center network. That points to regional MRO demand that follows fleet growth and manufacturer networks as much as price. The two-hour AOG response obligation toward the Dassault Command Center also shows how OEM networks bind authorized centers to service levels, whether or not a given center can ultimately provide the support.

Newer Falcons shift the work toward digital documentation, electronic tools and cybersecurity under Part-IS, with longer maintenance intervals. Facilities serving these types therefore need different skills and systems than those built around the 7X and 900EX. The next milestone is the EASA approval for the Falcon 6X that the company says is expected to follow.