THE AIRCRAFT maintenance firm SR Technics has said one of its largest customers, Gulf Air, is terminating a maintenance contract. Gulf Air told SR Technics in December that it was ending the contact this June, less than three years into a five-year term. Zurich-based SR Technics employs 1,200 people in Ireland.

Three SR Technics facilities will be affected by the change; Bahrain – which has 240 staff exclusively working on Gulf Air aircraft – Dublin and Zurich.

A spokeswoman for SR Technics said it was too early to say what impact the contract termination would have on its Irish operations.

The total SR Technics workforce is about 5,400. The company’s Irish operation was previously known as Team Aer Lingus.

Siptu’s civil aviation organiser Jim Finnegan said the union’s members were “shocked”.

“As most of the Gulf Air work is carried out in locations outside Dublin, it is unclear at this stage what impact it will have on Irish operations,” he said.

“We will be seeking a meeting with management,” he added.