Dubai: Lufthansa Technik, one of the world's largest aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service providers, is aggressively looking at the growing Middle East market, a senior official said.
The company, which employs 26,000 people and has 670 customers and 2,000 aircraft under contract, will make an announcement at the Dubai Air Show tomorrow.
The size of the global commercial jet fleet increased 2.7 per cent in 2008 to 19,330 aircraft, according to Ascend — an aviation research organisation, most of which need periodical maintenance.
"We have a presence in the Middle East with all major airlines on different services. The market is growing as most airlines are expanding heavily, ordering new aircraft," Walter Heerdt, Lufthansa Technik's senior vice-president for Marketing and Sales, told Gulf News.
"The Middle East is the powerhouse of the global aviation industry. We are in talks with various airlines. We have a strategy for the region. We have 15 per cent market share in the Middle East."
Slow growth
The worldwide commercial jet transport MRO market grew by just 1.4 per cent over the past year to $45.7 billion, according to the annual MRO Forecast produced for O&M by TeamSAI and Ascend.
"If not for inflationary pressure on the cost of materials and on labour rates, the value of the MRO market, comprising airframe heavy maintenance visits and modifications, engine overhaul, component repair and line maintenance, actually would have fallen 2.3 per cent from 2008's level of $45.1 billion (Dh165.51 billion)," TeamSAI and Ascend said in a report.
Last year, before airlines began slashing capacity due to soaring fuel prices followed by the global economic crisis, the worldwide commercial jet transport MRO market had been expected to grow more than 4 per cent to $46.8 billion by early 2009.
"Following a period of sustained growth, the worldwide MRO market decreased for the first time since 2003 — the volume of business shrinking by $1 billion to an estimated $42 billion," says a Lufthansa Technik report.
The company, which is part of the Deutsche Lufthansa group, last year generated 5.5 billion euros. It enjoys 12 per cent market share globally, in its area of business.
It conducts 1,700 aircraft inspections per day and has 32 subsidiaries. Due to growing demand, the company is investing heavily in expansion.
Maintaining aircraft
Aircraft maintenance checks are periodic checks that have to be done on all aircraft after a certain amount of time or usage. Airlines casually refer to these checks as one of the following: A check, B check, C check, or D check.
A Check: This is performed approximately every month or 500 Flight Hours (FH). The actual occurrence of this check varies by aircraft type, the cycle count (takeoff and landing is considered an aircraft "cycle"), or the number of hours flown since the last check.
B Check: This is performed approximately every 3 months. B checks may be incorporated into successive A checks, ie: A-1 through A-10 complete all the B check items.
C Check: This is performed approximately every 12-18 months or a specific amount of actual FH as defined by the manufacturer. This check takes the aircraft out of service and requires plenty of space —usually a hangar at a maintenance base.
D Check: This is the heaviest check, also known as a Heavy Maintenance visit. This occurs approximately every 4-5 years. This more or less takes the entire airplane apart for inspection.
