Lufthansa Technik plans $40-M expansion of Villamor facility

Aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service provider Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP) is planning a $40-million expansion project at its existing facility in Pasay City, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.

In a statement yesterday, DTI said it supports the planned 9,000-square meter (sqm) expansion of LTP at its 229,000-sqm lot in Villamor Airbase.

LTP expects to complete the expansion 13 months after the contract is awarded.

When completed, the expansion would create 300 jobs.

At present, LTP has 3,200 employees at its facility in Villamor Airbase.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez recently met with LTP to discuss the planned expansion.

LTP president and chief executive officer Elmar Lutter said the firm is planning to expand as the global MRO market is anticipated to continue rising by four to five percent per year, with one third to be accounted for by the Asia-Pacific region.

He said growing global demand for MRO skilled workers may lead to a labor shortage in the Philippine MRO industry.

Filipinos, he said, are known as skilled aircraft mechanics not just in the Philippines, but also in the world.

“The competitive advantage of the Philippines is its people,” he added.

Lopez said LTP’s expansion is seen to help achieve the government’s aim of making the Philippines an aerospace and MRO hub in the Asia Pacific.

“The Philippines is positioning itself as the hub for aerospace manufacturing and aftermarket services in the Asia-Pacific region. We have a young, educated and highly-trainable workforce that is a boon to investors. If we achieve this goal, we can increase our high-value exports and provide decent jobs to more Filipinos,” he said.

Apart from the Villamor Airbase in Pasay, LTP also has operations in Cebu, Davao, Pampanga and Aklan.

LTP, a joint venture of Lufthansa Technik AG and Philippine aviation services provider MacroAsia Corp., is a registered aircraft MRO firm enjoying fiscal and non-fiscal incentives.

Lutter said the incentives help the company deal with challenges such as tough competition in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the logistical costs of being in an island country.