Page 28 - AAA NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2015 Online Magazine

INTERVIEW LUFTHANSA TECHNIK

“Innovation is Our Success Mantra”

GERALd STEINhOff, SENIOR VICE includes the extension of existing sites
President Corporate Sales Asia Pacific, or the foundation of new sites, alone or
with international partners, and a heavy
at Lufthansa Technik in an interview to investment in innovation topics to provide
Jay Menon of Asian Airlines and Airports the best technical solutions for the
says the company is looking at possible customers. New analysis, automatization
partners outside China and the Philippines and repair methods are in our focus to
reduce MRO costs and to increase quality.
in the region and “if things go well, we From our point of view this is the only
might find another location in Asia”. possible way for a profitable growth and a
sustainable success in the future.
AAA: How do you describe Airbus A350, Boeing 777-9X, and 787. This
today’s MRO market? will also be LTP’s second line for A380 base AAA: With a lot of new aircraft coming
Steinhoff: Looking at our customers maintenance and its entry into Boeing 777 into the market, is there a danger
in Asia Pacific we see a high growth of base maintenance. The development is of manufacturers monopolising
legacy and low cost carriers. While low expected to expand the company’s yearly the entire supply chain?
cost carriers are more and more gaining capacity by 200,000 man hours. The opening Steinhoff: First of all newer aircraft types
a higher share in the market. These are will take place in November 2015. have longer MTBOs - so as a consequence
independent LCC’s as well as more and At LTS we also expanded our MRO service they produce lower MRO cost and less
more subsidiaries of legacies. So we see portfolio in Asia: We will have significantly man hours per Heavy maintenance event.
that the low cost carrier logic of running more capabilities for components including In total the MRO spent per RPK (revenue
the business remains a successful airframe related components as well as passenger kilometer) is declining.
model. On the MRO side we see a trend engine services, training and logistics. We Secondly new technologies such as new
for overcapacities on the market. While doubled the size of our facility and celebrated composites require high investments and
some larger shops of legacy carriers are the opening of two new buildings on May 21. highly skilled workforce. This is definitely
suffering underutilization, more and more The new workshops, warehouse, offices and a challenge for all MRO’s. So those who
capacities are built up in the market. This training rooms are housed on 16,000 square are prepared for this development will
will lead to a consolidation in some areas, meters. During the next months we will fill survive in the long run. We believe that
where the economics are transparent and these new production areas with capabilities Lufthansa Technik is very well prepared.
gain weight. On our product side we see that will serve the market. The entry of new aircraft types like the
that single contracts will cover more and And there are other possible partners A350 will be a good example. Should the
more aircraft. This is due to the fact that and opportunities outside China and the aggressive market policy of airframers
airlines grow their fleet and the number Philippines that could be interesting for succeed than we will definitely have the
of airlines with more than 100 aircraft us, which offers further possibilities. danger of monopolistic tendencies –
increases. This trend will continue. Talks are ongoing, and if things go well, with all the negative effects on price and
we might find another location in Asia. quality for the customers in the long run.
AAA: Kindly detail your
expansion plans in Asia AAA: Are you looking at any AAA: MROs and other industry
Steinhoff: As Lufthansa Technik we joint ventures in Asia? players these days still find
consequently follow our strategy to Steinhoff: The short answer is: Yes. themselves entrapped in vastly
extend our organization and capabilities Asia is one of our key markets. Lufthansa inconvenient component procurement
in Asia Pacific. That is visible in two of Technik is permanently developing and processes. Is that true?
our facilities in Manila (LTP: Lufthansa implementing new measures in all of its Steinhoff: We see now a new level of
Technik Philippines) and Shenzhen areas to secure the company’s future and competition. With the entry of new aircraft
(LTS: Lufthansa Technik Shenzhen). At to sustainably improve its results. Besides and engine types the manufacturers are
LTP we celebrated the ground breaking optimization programs to streamline still intensifying their efforts to increase
for a hangar expansion in January. internal processes and structures the their part in the entire supply chain. New
The construction expands two existing company is also strengthening its sales aircraft are significantly more reliable
bays equipped with versatile docking activities in the major growth regions and require (hopefully) less maintenance
systems that can accommodate current like Asia and is working on the further less frequently than the aircraft they are
widebodies and newer models for the development of its product portfolio. This replacing. This means less workload
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