Chris Kjelgaard

Lufthansa Technik is creating an Airbus A350 XWB spares pool in Hong Kong as the initial step in an effort to become a leading provider for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of the new Airbus widebody in the Asia Pacific region.

 


Hamburg-based Lufthansa Technik (LHT, Stand K65) has also completed various Asia Pacific construction and MRO service-expansion efforts aimed at securing new business from the introduction of new aircraft types–including the A350 XWB and Boeing 777X–ordered in large numbers by the region’s airlines.

 


Addressing LHT’s decision to create an A350 XWB spares pool in Asia, Gerald Steinhoff, the company’s senior v-p corporate sales Asia Pacific, said, “The most important need for our customers is parts availability and reliability. It is more important where our A350 material will be placed and how fast it can be delivered to the airlines…than having [MRO] capabilities in the area. Therefore we have decided–as a first step–to open up a pool location in Hong Kong.”

 


Other developments such as an A350 XWB MRO partnership could follow. “There is a certain interest [among] potential partners in the area, who are interested to cooperate with LHT in building up capabilities in a joint approach,” said Steinhoff.

 


Although LHT is focusing on the Asia Pacific region for A350 XWB MRO business development, because “the majority of A350 operators are based in the Asia Pacific region,” the company’s decision to locate an A350 XWB spares pool at Hong Kong suggests LHT could regard Cathay Pacific Airways as a key potential partner in winning the work.

 


Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has 22 A350-900s and 26 A350-1000s on order and was due to receive its first A350-900 in February. Lufthansa itself will receive in November the first of 25 A350-900s it ordered and a dedicated LHT “entry-into-service” team is now preparing for Lufthansa’s A350-900 phase-in.

 


However, LHT began offering A350 XWB MRO services in January 2015 by providing turnaround checks for Qatar Airways’ A350-900s at Frankfurt, with the support of that carrier. LHT subsequently extended its A350-900 line-maintenance support for Qatar Airways to Munich and is now able to handle AOG situations “in exceptional cases.” Steinhoff said LHT also has gained “significant experience on component repair, logistics, engineering and pool management” through supporting the A350-900s operated by Finnair, LHT’s first major customer for A350 XWB MRO.

 


Now, LHT’s “line maintenance personnel in Bangkok are ready for A350 line maintenance services,” said Steinhoff. However, he added, LHT contributed “significantly” to the development and design of the A350 XWB, its engineers participating in A350 XWB focus groups conducted by Airbus and supporting the manufacturer “with respect to maintainability and maturation.”

 


“LHT’s [MRO] portfolio for this aircraft type already comprises an extensive package of ready maintenance and repair services,” said Steinhoff. These include “fleet management, line maintenance, engineering services including troubleshooting and software management, component MRO and pool services, on-wing support on composite structures and engines and overhaul and maintenance on auxiliary power units.” LHT also partners on A350 XWB MRO with Honeywell, which supplies more systems for the type than any other OEM.

 


Meanwhile, LHT has prepared for a large Asia Pacific requirement for A350 XWB and Boeing 777X MRO by expanding two of its four existing facilities in the region. These are Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP) and Lufthansa Technik Shenzhen (LTS).

 


LTP’s recently completed hangar expansion “includes a new Boeing 777 base- and heavy-maintenance capability,” said Steinhoff. “The 777 bay is equipped with a versatile docking system that can accommodate current and future aircraft types such as the 777-9 and A350. This puts LTP on track to meet the growing demand for base maintenance of new aircraft types.”

 


“[At LTS] we also expanded our service portfolio in Asia,” said Steinhoff. “We will have significantly more capabilities for components, including airframe-related components as well as engine services, training and logistics. We doubled the size of our facility and celebrated the opening of two new buildings recently.”

 


Other Asia Pacific business developments may soon happen for LHT, whose Asian facilities also include Lufthansa Technik Service India and Malaysia-based Airfoil Services. “There are other possible partners and opportunities outside China and the Philippines that could be interesting for us, which offer further possibilities,” said Steinhoff. “Talks are ongoing.”

 


Because of fast-growing emerging markets such as China, India and Indonesia, LHT reckons the Asia Pacific MRO market will grow at an average annual rate of 7 percent over the next 10 years, outstripping the 4 percent annual growth in the world MRO market that it forecasts for the decade.

 


LHT sees engine and component MRO as the “strongest drivers of growth” in the Asia Pacific MRO market–areas which are already LHT’s “strongest products, measured on volume,” according to Steinhoff. The company already handles component MRO for more than 300 aircraft in the region and operates spares pools in Hong Kong and Singapore for several aircraft types. Steinhoff said LHT’s overall business is growing especially quickly in Southeast Asia, though “geographically, we have customers in every [Asia Pacific] country.”

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