Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH
LUFTHANSA TECHNIK (LHT) chairman Wolfgang Mayrhuber has criticised manufacturers which offer their own maintenance packages for aircraft and aero engines.
LHT says that aircraft and engine manufacturers are increasingly attempting to "-elbow their way" into the maintenance and overhaul market and restrict current suppliers. Offers of products on terms which include servicing carry "the seeds of monopoly", the company adds.
Although Mayrhuber will not name any of the companies involved, it is believed that he is mainly referring to General Electric Aircraft Engines and Airbus Industrie partner Aerospatiale.
Mayrhuber appeals to airlines to join with the maintenance and overhaul industry to resist the rise of such "monopolies". He also warns that, because of Government subsidies to competitors, "-we are now confronted with the fact that our jobs are being endangered".
Over capacity in the maintenance market remains undiminished, despite the growth of airline fleets, as more reliable modern aircraft require less maintenance, says Mayrhuber. Even the growth of demand in Asia is only generating more capacity in the market. "Maintenance and overhaul today is a buyers' market, and it is bound to remain so," states Mayrhuber. Cost pressures on airlines are driving them to "-think cheap".
In its first fiscal year as an independent entity, LHT achieved a pre-tax profit of DM35 million ($23.6 million) on a turnover of DM2.5 billion. The company also repaid DM40 million, of an outstanding loan from its parent company, Lufthansa. The company says that results for the first half of 1996 are "on target". About 65% of LHT's sales were to companies in the Lufthansa group.
Source: Flight International
