Ameco Beijing and Lufthansa Technik are about halfway through the Airbus A380 wing-rib feet modifications that the manufacturer has allocated to the two MRO partners.
Airbus has contracted LHT and Ameco – a maintenance joint venture between Air China and Lufthansa – to carry out the modification on 31 A380s, variously operated operated by Emirates, Lufthansa and Qantas.
Ameco is servicing Emirates’ A380s, while LHT is handling the A380s of its parent carrier and Qantas at its bases in Frankfurt and Philippine capital Manila, respectively.
Since the programme started in 2013, some 15 A380s have been processed at the three locations, and LHT chief executive August Wilhelm Henningsen expects the rest to be modified within 18 months.
The average aircraft downtime for the modification has been cut to 49 days, said Henningsen during a results briefing in Hamburg on 18 March.
Meanwhile, LHT’s Manila site is expanding its MRO capabilities to include C4-checks, the first scheduled airframe heavy maintenance event for the type. The required certification is to be granted by June.
The facility has conducted C2-checks on two Air France A380s, although Henningsen says no agreement has been signed with the French carrier for any additional checks.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
