MTU is planning to open a component repair facility in Europe to support a growing maintenance business.
The company is evaluating three "best-cost" locations for the facility, chief executive Reiner Winkler said during a financial results briefing in Munich today. A decision is to be taken within three months.
Together with Lufthansa Technik, MTU is building an overhaul shop, Engine Maintenance Europe, for Pratt & Whitney PW1000G engines, in the Polish city of Rzeszow. MTU is a shareholder in the geared turbofan programme.
EME is scheduled to start operations later this year, and will concentrate on engine disassembly, reassembly and testing.
The planned additional site, to be focused on component repairs, will begin operations with "several hundred" staff members, says MTU, which will run the facility without a partner.
Winkler says the project is necessary because MTU's existing maintenance sites have reached capacity, while the MRO business has seen "extreme" growth.
MTU's overhaul shops in Hannover and Ludwigsfelde, near Berlin, and the company's joint venture with China Southern Airlines in Zhuhai have all been expanded, he notes.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
