Lufthansa Technik Malta celebrates first services for a Lufthansa Airbus A350
Lufthansa Technik Malta celebrated the commencement of base maintenance services for Airbus A350 long-haul aircraft belonging to its parent company Lufthansa. The first aircraft, an A350-900 registered D-AIXB, arrived on the island Friday evening and is currently undergoing a scheduled C-check at the facility at Luqa Airport.
Julia Farrugia Portelli, Minister for Tourism, Silvio Schembri, Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business and Dr Owen Bonnici, Minister for Education and Employment, were at Lufthansa Technik Malta at a welcome ceremony in its hangar.
The first layover of a Lufthansa A350 at Lufthansa Technik Malta marks an important milestone and highlights the importance of this modern aircraft type for the entire Lufthansa Technik Group and its leading market position in the maintenance, repair and overhaul for latest generation commercial aircraft.
To date, Lufthansa Technik Malta is the only facility in the company’s worldwide base maintenance network that is capable of conducting heavy checks on the A350, which was designed to make intensive use of many advanced technologies.
As an example, the high percentage of composite materials poses many new requirements for the inspection of its airframe, which is a central aspect in the checks conducted at Lufthansa Technik Malta. Employing most modern inspection and repair techniques, the company’s highly qualified technicians and engineers make sure that each A350’s airframe remains in perfect health throughout its entire service life and thus provide a valuable contribution to Lufthansa’s and other airlines’ safe and efficient operation of this aircraft type.
Lufthansa Technik Malta’s chief Executive officer Marcus Motschenbacher expressed his gratitude to the customer Lufthansa for entrusting it with major works from the company’s inception over 16 years ago: “We are honoured to be the only facility in the Lufthansa Technik network to be performing these checks on Airbus A350s. It represents the future of our modernised product portfolio and allows our staff to grow in size and expertise in advanced technologies. Furthermore, in 2020 this milestone for Lufthansa Technik Malta is even more meaningful given that it coincides with an important anniversary of our parent Lufthansa Technik AG, which began operations as an independent stock company 25 years ago.”
During the ceremony, Dr Bonnici remarked that the aviation industry has proven to be a key player in our economy, especially in the past few years, where companies like Lufthansa Technik Malta have kept on investing and enlarging their operations in our country. This is due not only to Malta’s geographical position, but also because of a well-established trained workforce which provides companies like Lufthansa Technik Malta with the necessary skilled employees, who do not only possess technical qualities, but also a strong work ethic.
“The collaboration between the Malta College of Arts Science and Technology and Lufthansa Technik Malta provides for the necessary setup in training students on the job, while also guaranteeing exciting career prospects. Today, this company employs around 650 people, a fifth of which are students and trainees in various stages of their training. Since its inception, Lufthansa Technik Malta, together with MCAST, has already produced and trained more than 500 people across various trades and skills. As a matter of fact, the repair and maintenance workforce within the sector has grown 5% in the last four years,” Minister Bonnici continued.
In his address, Minister Schembri thanked Lufthansa Technik Malta for taking the initiative to start servicing the A350 aircraft in both its variant models in Malta and thanked Lufthansa as well, for once again putting their confidence in the local maintenance, repair and overhaul industry.
“As the minister responsible for the national airline, I see Lufthansa Technik Malta and Air Malta as important allies in strengthening further the aviation industry, particularly within the maintenance sector. Lufthansa Technik’s expansion plans that amount to a €25m investment bestow further trust in our thriving economy, which is set to keep on going at the same pace in terms of growth, with the European Commission predicting that, in the coming months, Malta will experience the highest growth in the EU,” said Minister Schembri.
Minister Schembri thanked his predecessor Dr Chris Cardona for his work, as well as both Malta Enterprise and Malta Industrial Parks which are assisting
Lufthansa Technik Malta in implementing its projects.
Minister Farrugia Portelli expressed her satisfaction at Lufthansa Technik Malta for its continuous effort over the years to further strengthen its operations in our country. This is evident through the arrival of the first Lufthansa A350 aircraft.
Minister Farrugia Portelli praised the 2019 results, in which the Malta International Airport recorded a 7.4% increase in passenger traffic when compared to 2018, which is equivalent to a total of 7.3 million passenger movements. “Out of this number, over 300,000 passengers were carried by Lufthansa, which registered an increase of 2.2% when compared to the previous year,” said Minister Farrugia Portelli.
She acknowledged that Malta is an ideal base for the establishment of the maintenance, repair and overhaul service. “Government is committed to the drawing up of an aviation master plan to ensure further expansion,” the minister concluded.
German Ambassador Walter Haßmann was also present during the ceremony.