1 April 2020 AAR and Sumitomo Corporation have joined hands to form AAR Sumisho Aviation Services' to distribute aircraft parts and offer aviation logistics management solutions to the Japanese defence market. Apart from this, the partnership includes distribution of parts from OEMs based in Japan to the global aviation aftermarket.
"We look forward to partnering with AAR to serve our Japanese customers and make our services more accessible to customers around the world," said Eiji Ishida, Sumitomo Corporation Executive Officer and GM of the Lease, Ship & Aerospace Business Division.
"This new venture with Sumitomo presents a tremendous opportunity to further expand our market reach and capabilities in Japan, a highly strategic market for us," said John Holmes, AAR President and CEO. "Both of our companies have a proven track record within the international defence industry, and we look forward to joining forces to become a leading aircraft parts distributor and provider of services to the Japanese defence market and global aviation aftermarket."
The combination of AAR's global network and competitive expertise in aviation supply chain and parts distribution and Sumitomo's logistics specialization and large footprint in the Japanese market will help their joint venture to provide quality services to the Japanese defence customers and play a key role in the export of parts from Japanese OEMs.