Lufthansa Technik
Lufthansa Technik is filling a gap at Milan left by Alitalia scaling back
Maintenance giant Lufthansa Technik formally opened a new Italian servicing base in October at Milan Malpensa airport, which is in the throes of major change following Alitalia's decision to scale back its presence there.
The Lufthansa Technik Milan operation - which builds on a component servicing facility set up two years ago - is offering line maintenance services, including A-checks and airport on the ground support, on the Airbus A330, A340 and A320-family aircraft as well as Boeing 737s.
The new centre was launched with a staff of 30, but management envisages that it could employ around 150 within five years.
"In case of an adequate market demand [the station] will also extend its services to other aircraft types," says Lufthansa Technik. Future development of the capability range is likely to be led by the Boeing 777, as the subsidiary looks to win business from Star Alliance carriers. Capability on other Boeing types would follow.
Lufthansa Technik has leased 6,400m2 (68,890ft2) of space at Malpensa's only hangar and is investing "several million euros" in tooling and equipment. Four narrowbody aircraft can be accommodated at the hangar, which Lufthansa Technik Milan took over in July, three months before the official opening.
The decision by Lufthansa's maintenance organisation to expand at Milan follows the airline's launch of a new Malpensa-based division, Lufthansa Italia, in February.
That in turn followed Alitalia's decision to shift services away from the airport in favour of growing its base at Rome, part of a reorganisation the flag carrier undertook around the start of this year.
Alitalia's downscaling at Malpensa also helped to create the opportunity for Lufthansa Technik Milan's expansion, which was supported by the airport operator SEA, the latter being keen to use the presence of an on-site line maintenance hangar to lure new airlines to the airport.
Lufthansa Technik Milan has been pitching for maintenance business from Lufthansa Italia, which operates seven A319 jets. Meanwhile, arrangements have been made for Livingston Airlines (formerly Lauda Air Italia) to have its A checks transferred from Lufthansa Technik's Frankfurt, Germany facility to Lufthansa Technik Milan. Livingston is one of the pre-existing component facility's half-dozen customers.
Prospective new customers can choose to have Lufthansa Technik Milan handle the complete maintenance organisation under a "technical operations management" (TOM) arrangement. The subsidiary also offers "total material operations" (TMO) support in co-operation with its parent company.
While Lufthansa Technik operates 75 line maintenance stations worldwide, Lufthansa Technik Milan is only the second with its own hangar.
"For us, in our business in Europe, Italy is definitely one of the growing markets we are looking for," says Lufthansa Technik chief executive August Henningsen. "We believe in the location, Malpensa, and we believe in the Italian aviation market."
Source: Flight International
