Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance plans to support General Electric GEnx or Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines - or both of them.
New-generation aircraft and engines are central to the Franco-Dutch maintenance provider's future growth, said AFI president Franck Terner during Paris air show this week.
The company will definitely service Boeing 787 aircraft, starting with component support, then powerplant and finally airframe MRO, said Peter de Swert, executive vice president at KLM E&M.
Engine overhaul capability for any new types would not be established until the first engines are due for their first regular shop visit, which typically takes five to six years from service entry, he added.
Even though AFI KLM E&M has no repair and overhaul capability for Rolls-Royce Trent engines at the moment, the company does not rule out to service also the Trent XWB powerplant for the Airbus A350.
Anne Brachet, AFI's senior executive vice president for engine overhaul, said that it would be possible to support both the GEnx and Trent XWB families and potentially split them between the overhaul shops in Paris and Amsterdam.
Neither the 787 nor A350 have yet been ordered by the parent group for the Air France or KLM fleets.
When asked about the MRO company's future medium-thrust engine strategy, Brachet responded that no decision has yet been made whether to support CFM International's Leap engine or Pratt & Whitney's geared turbofan.
The group has thus far focussed on the CFM56-family in the medium-thrust class, with AFI overhauling CFM56-5A/5B/5C engines and KLM E&M supporting the CFM56-7B.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
