After 40 years of partnerships with airlines in the Middle East, Lufthansa Technik (Stand W525) is finally opening a representative office in Dubai.
The office on the 15th floor of Dubai's World Trade Centre will be run by Suheil Mahayni, a graduate industrial engineer who has worked for the German company since 1999.
Executive board chairman August W Henningsen said at a press conference at the show that the Middle East, along with Europe, is one of the company's most important markets. "Having a representative office of our own in Dubai will afford those customers more immediate access to our services, with no time language or cultural barriers blocking the way."
With regional customers such as Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kuwait Airways, MEA, Egypt Air and Air Tunis, Lufthansa Technik's Dubai office seems certain to be the focal point for operations in the Middle East.
As well as the airline business, the German company also specialises in the selection, inspection, design, production, certification and on-going maintenance of VIP aircraft.
Says Henningsen: "We are just about to complete our 10th Boeing 747 (a -400 version) in VIP configuration for a head of state in the region.
"It takes around a year to complete each of these aircraft because the specification is usually extremely high with craftsmanship high on the agenda. Our customers expect us to provide industry-leading standards of noise-reduction, comfort, lighting and air-conditioning and our latest Network Indicated Cabin Entertainment (NICE) system is cutting-edge digital technology.
‘Plug-and-play'
"This works through a network BUS system where upgrades are made to the software rather than the hardware. This is both cost-effective and operationally sophisticated as it means that the latest video, telephone, sound and information systems can be used in a ‘plug-and-play' manner."
Lufthansa Technik has also introduced a new portfolio of services for VIP aircraft operators, which it calls Life Cycle Services. This caters for the entire life of the aircraft from selection right through service entry to on-going services such as maintenance, crewing, modifications and painting. All an owner has to do it turn up… and fly.
Source: Flight Daily News
