China's - Orient Aviation

SPECIAL REPORTMaintenance, Repair and OverhaulBig MRO investment in IndiaBoeing and Lufthansa Technikh ave m a de sig n i f ic a nti nve st ment s i n I nd ia’sgrowing MRO industry bysetting up partnerships in thecountry. Boeing is joining with Air Indiato invest US$185 million in a joint venturefacility in Mumbai, while Lufthansa hasteamed with the GMR Group to form acompany based in Hyderabad.Boeing’s move is an add-on to the dealunder which Air India will buy 68 of itsaircraft, including 27 B787 Dreamliners.The joint venture will offer third party workon B777s and B787s, with the U.S. companysupplying airframe expertise.Air India is including the MRO operationas one of its five new strategic business unitsafter its merger with Indian (formerly IndianAirlines). A partner for engine work wasbeing sought at press time.Lufthansa Technik, which already hasdeals with Jet Airways, Air Deccan andKingfisher Airways, is planning to open itsfacility by early 2009. The target will be thecountry’s growing narrowbody fleet withAir India: New MRO venture withBoeing will form one of the carrier’sfive new business unitsbase maintenance for A320s and B737s asthe main offering.The German company, the first foreignMRO operator to set up in India, is a75% partner. It was attracted by the largenumber of orders for aircraft for domesticand regional use.“There are 100 aircraft coming to themarket in the next 12 months alone,” saidThomas Stüger, chief executive, product andservices. “We are looking at the new kids onthe block, not just the traditional ones. Thereare a lot of good concepts, but they definitelyneed maintenance.”Elsewhere in Asia, Lufthansa TechnikPhilippines has added a new hangar forlight base maintenance checks. LufthansaTechnik Shenzhen plans to double itscapacity after expanding its support servicesfor airframe related components. MalaysiaAirfoil Services, a joint venture with MTUAero Engines specialising in the repair ofengine blades, has opened a new factory inKuala Lumpur to double its output.Pilot shortagemeans moreheavy check slotsChina’s MROs are trying to workaround the complexities of airlineoperations in a country whereaircraft may be grounded towards the endof the year due to a shortage of pilots.According to Joey Lo, commercialdirector at Guangzhou Aircraft MaintenanceEngineering Co (GAMECO), it works likethis: thanks to heavy demand for flightsduring China’s expanding holiday season– it’s up to 12 weeks a year now – pilots arerunning out of hours.And as heavy maintenance is out of thequestion at times when aircraft are mostneeded, carriers are keen to book themin when pilots have used up their quotas,forcing aircraft to be idle because no oneelse is available to fly them.“Because of that, we are having toreshuffle our timetable to handle domesticand international customers,” he said. But,often the capacity isn’t there. “We are sobusy and every airline has its own agenda,”said Lo.Ameco eyesconversion businessAmeco Beijing is looking into B747passenger freighter conversions,dependent on hangar capacitybeing available, said executive director,Harry Seeger. Lead customers would be itsjoint venture partner, Air China, which wantsto convert aircraft in its fleet.GAMECO has performed its first A300-600 passenger to freighter conversion forparent company, China Southern Airlines.Five more are to follow under a deal with B/EAerospace of Florida, which developed theengineering and certification package and ismanufacturing the structural components.Boeing has said its new MRO facility inShanghai, jointly established with ShanghaiAirlines, will provide B767 conversionswithin three years. Singapore TechnologiesAerospace (ST Aero) marked the conversionof the 50th MD-11 for various Boeingcustomers in September. Thirty have goneto UPS.Mega hangars for A380sWhile SIA Engineering Co(SIAEC) is putting the finishingtouches to its A380 hangar, dueto be operational early next year, EmiratesAirline already has a facility in place thatcan house 18 of the giant jumbos.One can go into each of the eight hangarsat the huge new Emirates Engineering Centre,nine in dedicated parking bays outside andone in the engine run-up facility. Emirateshas ordered 55 A380s.www.orientaviation.com54 ORIENT AVIATION NOVEMBER 2007