With the opening of a second wide-body hangar, Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP) is expanding its aircraft maintenance capacity in Asia still further. Already one of the most important MRO providers in Asia, LTP will now be well-equipped to provide full technical support for Philippine Airlines’ growing fleet and at the same time to meet growing international demand for heavy checks in the Airbus A330/A340 market.

Located to the east of the big existing hangar with its four production lines, the new hangar offers an additional line for wide-body aircraft on a floor space of 8,500 square meters. Extension of capacity had become necessary because international demand for base maintenance on A330/A340 aircraft in particular has risen sharply.

Today not only Lufthansa and Philippine Airlines but a further ten international airlines have checks performed on their long-haul aircraft by LTP. Since its foundation in 2000, the company has carried out 65 heavy checks, and in September it received EASA certification for all maintenance work on the latest Airbus aircraft of the A340-familiy, the A340-600.

At the formal opening ceremony of the new hangar in Manila, August Wilhelm Henningsen, Chairman of the Executive Board of Lufthansa Technik AG, emphasized the fact that in only seven years LTP had developed into an important overhaul facility for the Lufthansa Technik Group, specializing in the heavy maintenance of Airbus long-haul aircraft.

Henningsen expressed his thanks for the professional and successful collaboration it had enjoyed with its joint venture partner, MacroAsia Corporation, and thanked LTP’s most important customer, Philippine Airlines, for its trust and loyalty, without which this flagship of the Philippine economy would not have been the success story that it has.

LTP President and CEO Bernhard Krueger-Sprengel emphasized that as well as providing full support for Philippine Airlines, the company’s focus on the rapidly expanding A330/A340 market had been vindicated. “In this segment we have worked our way to the top through the quality and globally competitive throughput times that we offer.”

The joint venture between Lufthansa Technik (51%) and the Philippine MacroAsia Corporation (49%), which today employs a workforce of 2,700, opened its first overhaul line for Airbus long-haul aircraft in 2002, and in January 2004 it opened a second overhaul line.

In September 2004 Lufthansa Technical Training Philippines commenced operations in Manila. Under the umbrella of LTP, EASA-certified vocational training is offered along with courses on particular aircraft types, engine types and human factors.