Lufthansa Technik has become a member of CFM International’s MRO network for the Leap engine.
Hamburg-based LHT says it signed with the engine manufacturer – a joint venture between GE Aviation and Safran – a CFM-branded service agreement for Leap-1A engines, which are an option on Airbus A320neo-family jets.
A similar agreement is being prepared for Leap-1Bs, which power Boeing 737 Max aircraft.
LHT says the agreement will enable it to “offer high-quality, cost-efficient MRO services for Leap-1A engines to customers worldwide as an independent MRO provider”.
The deal represents an “intensified” co-operation after CFM had granted LHT a license in 2017 to service Leap engines.
LHT notes the new accord includes extended licences, additional commercial agreements and “strong technical co-operation”.
While the partnership is aimed at “optimising the operating costs of the Leap-1A engine and developing new MRO services”, LHT will additionally be able to provide “a range of MRO services tailored specifically to customers' requirements and to the needs corresponding to the life-cycle of the engine”, the maintenance company says.
CFM chief executive Gael Meheust states the manufacturer has a “very long, very successful relationship” with LHT through the CFM56 series, and that the new agreement will “take that relationship to a whole new level".
LHT competes with CFM as a third-party maintenance provider for CFM56 services.
“We are proud to join the CFM MRO network and extend our existing, very successful partnership and collaboration beyond the CFM56 family,” says LHT’s vice-president engine services Bernhard Krueger-Sprengel.
The maintenance provider foresees it will service its first Leap-1A at its engine shop in Hamburg in early 2019.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
