Midlands software firm in €2.2m deal with Finnair

8 Sep 2009

Mullingar-based software company Skypaq has signed a lucrative €2.25m contract to provide European airliner Finnair with technology to manage the maintenance of its fleet of Airbus, Boeing and Embraer aircraft.

The investment will bring significant cost reduction and operational efficiencies to the Finland carrier.

Skypaq, headquartered in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, and employing highly experienced professionals from the aviation and software sectors, has designed and developed all of the software solutions within Ireland and wholly own all IP rights.

“The present global economic environment provides huge business opportunities for Skypaq due to our proven track record in reducing costs for aviation organizations,”said Richard McKenna, CEO and founder of Skypaq.

“Skypaq’s processes were engineered from within an airline and have full regulatory approval status, and have a range of other aviation solutions developed by the company. Skypaq therefore delivers in the realities of today’s demanding operational and regulatory aviation environment.”

Skypaq’s technology enables airliners to significantly reduce operational costs while at the same time providing management with timely and accurate data through an enhanced electronic and paperless work flow process.

“Our focus for future growth is on the global aviation industry, and we are forecasting rapid sales growth in the next three years. 2009 is proving to be a really exciting time for Skypaq as many maintenance providers (MRO) and airlines need to reduce costs,” the company’s sales director John Corrigan said.

“By utilising Skypaq solutions this objective can be achieved. Skypaq are involved in contract negotiations with a number of other large European and Global Airlines, have clients operating within EASA and FAA jurisdictions, and are in the discussion stage with regard to partnering with a global solutions provider. Once agreed this will significantly increase the company’s global reach.”

Welcoming the announcement, Tom Hayes, Head of High Potential Start Ups at Enterprise Ireland said that Skypaq is an excellent example of a young and innovative Irish-based company whose objective is to find solutions for large international players such as Finnair.

“Their strong focus on research and development, their export focus, the high-value technology jobs they contribute at regional level – all these combine to strengthen Ireland’s reputation as a services centre of excellence,” said Hayes.

Photo: The homepage of Finnair’s website.

By John Kennedy

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com