Page 9 - AAA NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2015 Online Magazine

COVER STORY LANDING GEAR

into their numerous components, which AAR’s joint venture with Malaysian the entire industry, including aircraft
are then individually cleaned,” explains MRO provider, AIROD, provides turnkey manufacturers and carriers.
an official at Lufthansa Technik’s Landing landing gear services to commercial and However, an increasing workload for
Gear Services (LTLGS), which provide vast military customers throughout the Asia airlines naturally means more take-offs
in-house capabilities at its four landing Pacific region. Conveniently located near and landings and, in turn, more pressure
gear overhaul facilities worldwide. Kuala Lumpur’s Subang Airport, AAR on the MRO providers servicing the landing
The U.K. facility of LTLGS recently Landing Gear Services brings high-quality, gear of the growing number of aircraft.
overhauled the 25th Landing Gear set of cost-effective landing gear services to one In Europe alone this market segment
the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft type. of the fastest growing aviation markets in is estimated to be worth approximately
According to LTLGS, as for the end of the world, Shah says. US$850 million in 2014 with the growth
2015, there will be 34 Boeing 777-300ER rate of up to 4% per year.
aircraft in operations which are ten years Air Travel Growth A landing gear, including wheels and
old or older and which are scheduled to According to the latest IATA forecast, the tires, takes the brunt of all landings.
receive a complete landing gear overhaul. demand for air travel will keep growing Bringing a Boeing B747-400 to a stop
The official says that 25 landing gear at the rate of five per cent to six per cent requires the brakes to absorb enormous
shipsets overhauled by LTLGS for leading a year. This is certainly good news for amounts of heat, as its maximum take-off
European, Middle Eastern and Japanese
operators, account approximately 70 per
cent of the total world-wide overhaul
market share of this type of landing gear.
“The successful experience on
previous Boeing 777-300ER programs,
gives us a very high level of confidence
in our capability to achieve performance
criteria set by our customers. These
facts are also a perfect foundation to
support future demand and continues
business developments, especially when
the latest generation aircraft, are yet to
come to landing gear overhaul market,”
says LTLGS Managing Director Sandra
Eckstein.
AAR, the global aerospace and
defence contractor that provides products
and services to commercial and military
fleets, says it believes in the value of
controlling the entire landing gear MRO
process in order to ensure high quality at
a world class turnaround time.
“Our 128,000 square foot Miami facility
houses all of the machinery, electroplating
equipment, systems, and technical staff
needed to perform the entire job under
one roof – whether that job is a piece
part repair, an actuator overhaul, or an
overhaul of a major gear assembly. This
includes all special processes to facilitate
a complete landing gear system overhaul
including inspection, non-destructive
testing, machining, plating, painting, final
assembly, and shipping,” says Rahul Shah
Senior Vice President- Strategic Growth
and Business Development- Asia Pacific,
Middle East and Africa -AAR Corporation.
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