Lufthansa Technik Middle East (LTME) has further increased its footprint for Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services in the Gulf region and is set to continue on its recent growth path. The wholly-owned subsidiary of Lufthansa Technik AG has recently expanded both its production capacity as well as its product and capabilities portfolio. In addition, the company welcomed several new major regional and supra-regional customers and moreover greatly increased its workforce at the Mohammed bin Rashid Aerospace Hub at Dubai South Airport (DWC).
The number of people employed by LTME recently surpassed the mark of 100 and is set to grow even further in 2020. During the recent expansion, special emphasis was put on the acquisition of local talents, which was moreover fostered by intense cooperation with Middle Eastern universities such as the Emirates Aviation University in Dubai and the American University of Sharjah.
Since the inauguration of the new facility in 2017, LTME’s customer base has seen continuous growth and now stretches even beyond the Gulf region with the company also providing regular services to several African and East-Asian airlines. Moreover, the company was recently able to further strengthen its local customer base in the Middle East by providing ad-hoc maintenance services within its repair portfolio for Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Gulf Air’s Chief Technical Officer Jamal Hashim commented: “Gulf Air is committed to achieving technical excellence in aircraft maintenance. LTME’s vast experience and high quality technical expertise in the areas of maintenance is the primary reason we selected the company as Gulf Air’s ad-hoc repair service provider for such critical items like radomes. Secondly, their close proximity to Bahrain has the added benefit that our parts will no longer have to leave the region for maintenance, thereby improving efficiency, decreasing turnaround time, reducing logistic charges and ultimately lowering Gulf Air’s operational costs while maintaining the highest quality of safety standards.”
“The establishment and further expansion of Lufthansa Technik Middle East is progressing well. Our new facility inaugurated two years ago has significantly strengthened our footprint in the region,” said Ziad Al Hazmi, Chief Executive Officer of LTME. “With ongoing investments in our local product and capabilities portfolio as well as in the local people, we are looking forward to even further expand our contribution to this important region.”
LTME’s local product portfolio has recently been broadened with additional Airframe Related Components (ARC®) and flight control repair capabilities and an extended spare parts pool for engine nacelles of the Boeing 787. Moreover, the company offers ARC® support, AOG (Aircraft-On-Ground) support and engine wash services as well as a local material support desk. The material pool in Dubai now covers parts and components for the Boeing 787, 777 and the Airbus A320 and A350 families.
Image caption: HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid visiting the booth of Lufthansa Technik at Dubai Air Show 2019.
