ILA 2008: Little and large from Lufthansa Technik

From the world’s first integrated child seat to VIP interiors for the world’s biggest airliner, Lufthansa Technik is here to show off an impressive range of capabilities. Walter Heerdt, the company’s senior VP for sales and marketing, talks to Brendan Gallagher

For a company that started life as the engineering arm of its parent airline, Lufthansa Technik these days offers an extraordinary array of products and services.

Maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) for more than 200 airline customers still forms the core of Hamburg-headquartered LHT’s business. But over the years the company has successfully added to its portfolio business and VIP aircraft completions; military aircraft conversions; a growing range of cabin systems; and a new line of environmentally friendly maintenance equipment.

All four strands are represented here, in the form of concepts for a VIP conversion of the giant A380 airliner; the MRTT tanker/transport aircraft for the German Air Force; the unique AeroKid child seat; and the Cyclean engine washing system.

Lufthansa Technik’s completions team is flying high following a recent run of successes that has left its production lines booked solid for years ahead. At last week’s EBACE show in Geneva the company announced it had landed its first deal for a VIP Boeing 787 and its second for a Boeing 747-8 conversion.

Lufthansa Technik is now planning for widebody completions out to 2018 and beyond: “We’re negotiating with a number of prospective customers,” says Walter Heerdt, senior VP for marketing and sales. “We’ve even got two or three different widebody owners bidding for the same completions slot.”

Apart from the Boeings, confirmed widebody work comprises two Airbus A330s and two A340s for the German Government, and a pair A330s for another government. “We’re expanding our completions capacity to meet this strong demand,” says Heerdt. “Among other things, we’re setting up another widebody line in Hamburg.” To date Lufthansa Technik has carried out 15 Boeing 747 completions and major modifications, and more than 30 widebody projects in all.

Narrowbody aircraft to be completed between now and 2012 comprise eight Airbus A318 Elites, three Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJs) and three Boeing BBJs for private and government customers. “The A318 Elite programme, offering a standardised VIP cabin in 14- or 18-passenger configuration, is a great success for both us and Airbus,” says Heerdt. “We have delivered three so far and are working on another two. A further six are contracted and we’re in negotiations for several more.”

The most coveted completions deal of them all – for the A380 ordered last year by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Alsaud – has not yet been awarded. But Lufthansa Technik is one of the very few companies in the world with the resources to tackle this $100 million-plus job.

“It’s a matter of having a big enough hangar and the right capacity and skills in the back shops,” comments Heerdt. “Not only do we score on both of those counts, but we’re also completely ready to support the A380 operations of our parent airline, while the model on our stand here shows we’re not short of ideas on how to turn the aircraft into a palace in the sky.”

Lufthansa Technik won’t try to win this prestigious business at all costs, however. “It would be very difficult for us to schedule an A380 into our facilities before 2012, and we don’t want to take an aircraft in and then park it in front of the hangar,” says Heerdt. “We’re not going to take risks with our reputation - that’s true of any project, whatever the size of the aircraft.”

Whether the passenger is a prince or the lowliest babe in arms, comfort and safety are top priorities for Lufthansa Technik. These are the principles behind the company’s new AeroKid fully integrated child seat for airliners. Developed by the Innovation business unit, this is reckoned to be the first of its kind on the market and the safest way yet to carry babies and children up to the age of 12.

AeroKid allows a standard passenger seat to be quickly and easily transformed to accommodate a child without any need to install additional equipment. It features adjustable foot and armrests and a seat area that can be lengthened or shortened. Special fasteners on either side of the seat make it possible to attach and adjust shoulder belts if required.

Babies and children up to two years old are accommodated by a separate dedicated seat that unfolds out of the main seat’s backrest and can be fully extended to form a small bed. This unit also has two shoulder straps for extra safety.

Lufthansa Technik worked with Airbus Deutschland to convert four A310s into MRTT tanker/transports for the German Air Force. The first was delivered in 2004 and all four are now in service. “At ILA we are emphasising our readiness to take on further special missions projects,” says Heerdt. “Among the visitors expected are military representatives from Germany and India.”

Heerdt is conscious that German companies attending a show in the capital city are sure to attract the attention of the nation’s politicians, with their environmental credentials coming in for particular scrutiny. “In our new Cyclean engine washing system we believe we have developed something that will not only save the airlines money but which will also make a useful contribution to cutting the environmental impact of air transport,” says Heerdt.

Being demonstrated here at work on a Lufthansa Boeing 737, Cyclean is designed to wash engines clean of accumulated combustion products much more quickly and easily than is possible with conventional systems.

A specially developed jig is attached to the fan spinner via a rapid-action hose coupling. This allows heated water to be sprayed directly into the engine core through the fan while the engine is rotated by the starter. This allows the entire core to be optimally washed during a single stopover. Lufthansa Technik says the resulting improvements in combustion cut fuel consumption by up to 0.75% and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

“ILA is one of the most important shows in Europe for Lufthansa Technik,” Heerdt concludes. “It attracts people from far and wide – this year India is the event’s partner country – and we are determined to show them the full range of our abilities.”

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Source: Flight Daily News