Croatia Airlines and Lufthansa Technik Celebrate 25 Years of Partnership

Croatia Airlines and its longstanding partner Lufthansa Technik AG are looking back on 25 years of common history. This partnership was honored in a joint ceremony in the Croatian capital of Zagreb on April 3 - precisely 25 years after Croatia Airlines took delivery of its first Boeing 737 from Lufthansa's fleet.

"With Lufthansa Technik as a partner, we have had the opportunity to work with one of the best global companies in the aircraft maintenance industry since our first international flight. We were able to learn from them and are thus now in a position to expand our own capacities at our technology center in Zagreb, step by step. Our partnership is a typical win-win situation," explained Kresimir Kucko, President and CEO of Croatia Airlines.

Antonio Schulthess, Member of the Executive Board of Lufthansa Technik for Human Resources and Technical Services told the attending guests, "You have done a great job of turning Croatia Airlines and Lufthansa Technik into a prime example for successful international business and cooperation. Our common understanding of high-quality work, our flexible reaction to unexpected events and our passion to deliver the best services are the keys to creating business growth and sustainable success together."

Support for the development of Croatia Airlines' own capacity for engineering and maintenance is likewise part of the partnership. Since 2000, the two partners have regularly exchanged personnel. In 2001, when Croatia Airlines received their JAR 145 certificate for their own technical centre in Zagreb, the first two C-Checks on Lufthansa Airbus A320 aircraft were carried out. Since 2012, in-house capacity regarding heavy maintenance has been increased.

A few weeks ago, Croatia Airlines and Lufthansa were able to celebrate another anniversary: For the 200th time, a Lufthansa aircraft arrived at the technology center in Zagreb for a check. "In addition to its high professionalism and quality, our 25-year partnership with Croatia Airlines is a source of genuine know-how transfer," said Jens Henningsen, Senior Sales Executive Lufthansa Technik. "We're growing together, and have always been reliable partners to each other. That's how it should be in the future, too."

In 1992, Lufthansa Technik started to support the Boeing 737 fleet of Croatia Airlines with an integrated Total Technical Support (TTS®) contract. In 1997, when Croatia Airlines' included their first Airbus
A320 in its fleet, Lufthansa Technik was also chosen as provider for TTS®. In addition, Croatia Airlines' Bombardier Q400-Turboprops have been under a Total Component Support (TCS®) since 2008. Today, subject matter of the contract for the Airbus A319/A320 fleet are component services, engine maintenance, wheels and brakes services, support for Airframe Related Components (ARC®), and provision of auxiliary power units (APU).

Croatia Airlines:
Croatia Airlines, the Croatian flag carrier, was registered as joint stock company under the name "Zagreb Airlines d.d." in 1989. Since July 1990, the company has operated under its present name. The first domestic flight took place in May 1991 with one leased Boeing MD-82 aircraft. The first international flight took place in April 1992 with Boeing 737-200. Today the airline - a Star Alliance Partner with 900 employees - has a fleet of twelve aircraft. It serves 39 destinations in 24 countries with 105 flights every day. In 2016 Croatia Airlines was selected as one of the five best airlines in Europe.

Lufthansa Technik:
With some 35 subsidiaries and affiliates, the Lufthansa Technik Group is one of the leading providers of technical aircraft services in the world. Certified internationally as maintenance, production and design organization, the company has a workforce of more than 25,000 employees. Lufthansa Technik's portfolio covers the entire range of services for commercial and VIP/special mission aircraft, engines, components and landing gear in the areas of digital fleet support, maintenance, repair, overhaul, modification, completion and conversion as well as the manufacture of innovative cabin products.