In the next days, Lufthansa Technik will hand-over SOFIA, a modified Boeing 747SP that is operated jointly by the USA's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) as a "Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy".
Over the past months Lufthansa Technik has performed a major overhaul of the aircraft. The company has one of the widest and longest experiences at maintaining this aircraft type, with only a handful 747SP worldwide still in service.
In parallel, Lufthansa Technik is currently also completing two Head-of-State 747-8 aircraft and is in concrete talks for completions with further 747-8 customers.
The finalization of the two 747-8 completion projects will be the latest milestone in Lufthansa Technik's unique long-term experience in technical services for the Boeing 747 family and will increase Lufthansa Technik's completion record on this aircraft model to 19.
Lufthansa started the first interior completion of a Boeing 747, a 747SP model, on the request of a Middle East Government Customer, in the mid' 80s. Since then, Lufthansa has completed 17 Head-of-State
747 aircraft including the models 747SP, 747-300 and 747-400 and has additionally performed a large number of major modifications or refurbishments on the "Jumbo" family.
Beside its expertise as a single-source completion center, with a total of around 100 interior cabin completions and conversions of narrow and wide body aircraft, Lufthansa Technik has also been able to gather extremely comprehensive know-how in all areas of maintenance, repair and overhaul services for the 747 family.
Lufthansa airline has been operating different models of the Boeing
747 for more than 40 years, starting with the 747-100 in 1970 up to the newest model, the 747-8. Over the whole period Lufthansa Technik has maintained the airline's aircraft as well as an increasing number of external customer aircraft and worked closely with Boeing to even improve the different models of the 747.
Currently, Lufthansa Technik has more than 70 747 aircraft under exclusive service contracts. With this background Lufthansa Technik is one of the most experienced Maintenance Provider for the 747.
The latest product in Lufthansa Technik's service portfolio for the
747-8 is the Aircraft Production Inspection Program (APIP). Lufthansa Technik is offering this independent production inspection to all, VIP Customers, airlines and leasing companies.
