Lufthansa Technik to Build New Engine Maintenance Hall in Hamburg

Lufthansa Technik AG is expanding its production capacity in Germany and, to this end, is to build an additional production hall for the overhaul of engines at its home base in Hamburg.

The new hangar, to be built on Lufthansa Technik's grounds at Hamburg airport, "is an important element in the expansion of our engine overhaul business unit with its strong revenues and hence in securing jobs in Germany as a business location," said August Wilhelm Henningsen, Chairman of the Executive Board of Lufthansa Technik AG. Work on construction of the new production facility, which will cost almost 50 million euros, is set to commence in October and the first engine overhaul in the new hall is planned for early in 2009.

With 15,000 sqm of floorspace, the new hall will make it possible to design engine overhaul production and processes so as to incorporate the latest thinking on these subjects. As a result and in conjunction with optimization of logistics, turnaround times for engines will be further reduced. At the same time it will be possible to increase the number of engines handled per year in Hamburg from the present 320 to over 400.

Agreement has been reached with the works council regarding flexible working time models. With clearly structured processes and demand- oriented work planning, this will play an important part in boosting productivity by up to 15 percent.

As Henningsen pointed out, "The business location of Germany plays a very important role in our global network, particularly in the area of engine overhaul. With higher productivity and flexible organization of work, we in Hamburg will be able to give a clear signal to the effect that it is indeed possible to offer high-tech services in Germany at costs which are internationally competitive."

The engine shop at Lufthansa Technik's Hamburg base is the biggest workshop for the overhaul of civil aero engines outside the USA. Engine overhaul features prominently in the services offered by Lufthansa Technik. The 4,000 staff who work in this area globally, over 2,000 of them in Hamburg alone, contribute a significant part of the annual turnover of the Hamburg company, repairing and overhauling over 500 engines per year.

Lufthansa Technik and its global network of subsidiaries and affiliates support virtually every engine and auxiliary power unit (APU) currently in service with airlines around the globe. The services offered range from individually tailored repair and overhaul services for engines, modules, individual parts, APUs and other components to Total Engine Support TES®, engineering services, claims under warranty, logistics services and consultancy.

Lufthansa Technik is licensed to perform work under warranty for the engine manufacturers General Electric (GE), Pratt & Whitney, CFM International (CFMI) and International Aero Engines (IAE), while the large Rolls-Royce engine types - the Trent 500, 700 and 900 - are overhauled by N3 Engine Overhaul Services in Arnstadt, Thuringia, the joint venture company with Rolls-Royce recently opened.