Lufthansa Technik to expand component pool

Hamburg, June 5: As aircraft population expands in India, aeronautical engineering major Lufthansa Technik (LHT) is planning to offer a bouquet of services for efficient airline operations.

''We'll expand our support programmes, including a regional aircraft component pool, which will shorten delivery times and increase reliability,'' said Mr August Wilhelm Henningsen, Chairman of the executive board at LHT.

At present, 150 to 250 million Indians are regarded as potential buyers of flight tickets. ''In this connection, India is only at the very start of a sustainable development,'' said Mr Henningsen.

The number of aircraft in operation across the country stands at 312, up from 170 two years ago. ''With more than 400 airplanes on order, the Indian aviation market is one of the fastest growing in the world,'' said Mr Henningsen.

LHT is the first international MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) provider to set up an Indian base. It has teamed up with the GMR Group, one of the leading infrastructure developers and concessionaire of airports in Delhi and Hyderabad.

With an initial investment of 23 million dollars (about Rs 100 crore), the MRO facility will be located at Shamshabad, the site of upcoming Rajiv Gandhi Hyderabad International Airport.

Last year, LHT and its One Stop Airline MRO signed a ten-year contract with Air Deccan to supply technical components for Airbus320 fleet of up to 60 aircraft at the Bangalore hub. For Kingfisher Airlines that has now acquired 26 per cent stake in Air Deccan, LHT is the sole provider for support services on V2500 engines of the A320 fleet as well as for component support of the entire fleet.

The German company has also concluded contracts with Jet Airways for looking after components of A340 and Boeing737 fleet. The airline gets components, personnel assistance, maintenance management services and other engineering support for its wide-bodied, long-haul aircraft A330 and B777 aircraft from LHT.

GoAir sends its V2500 engines for repair and overhaul to LHT. For legacy carriers like Air India and Indian, LHT provides various component repairs as well as structural parts such as nacelles and thrust reversers at facilities in Hamburg or Shenzhen in China.

One of the first customers from south Asia was Air Sahara with Bombardier regional jets for which LHT established a component supply and the engines were served by LHT AERO Alzey.

Globally, over 580 airlines rely on LHT services. The company operates 65 line maintenance stations, 28 subsidiaries and employs 25,000 people.

UNI