Lufthansa Technik hikes capacity with new NAIA hangar

MANILA, Philippines — Aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul service provider Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP) expanded its capacity by 20 percent by launching a new hangar in its economic zone beside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

LTP opened the Hangar 1A on Friday night, adding three new lines to the existing seven lines at the MacroAsia special economic zone near the international airport.

Elmar Lutter, president and CEO at LTP, said the inauguration of Hangar 1A would serve the growing demand for aircraft MRO, especially as air travel recovers with border restrictions lifted.

Lutter said the 9,000-square meter facility was supposed to be opened in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the launch of the hangar.

Likewise, LTP decided to defer the completion of Hangar 1A given that travel demand declined at the height of the pandemic that year.

With the hangar, LTP’s capacity to deliver services for aircrafts in the country would be raised by a fifth.

The Philippine unit of Hamburg-based Lufthansa Technik AG plans to add at least 275 personnel as its contribution to government efforts to arrest joblessness.

Lutter added that Hangar 1A could provide base maintenance for commercial aircrafts with short to long-range capacities, including Airbus A320, A330, A380 and Boeing 777.

According to Lutter, the opening of Hangar 1A marks LTP’s exit from the difficulties it endured at the height of the pandemic in 2020.

Looking ahead, the company hopes to bounce back from the pandemic parallel to the aviation industry’s optimism that recovery is well within reach.

“It marks our transition from some of the most difficult times we have faced as a company due to the pandemic, to this phase of gradual recovery. This is our concrete, tangible proof that we are seeing clearer skies ahead,” Lutter said.

For his part, LTP vice president for marketing and sales Rainer Janke said the firm anticipates a resurgence in MRO requirements with travel and tourism picking up in the post-lockdown period.

Janke said that LTP services remain the same, putting a premium on flight safety in the new normal.

“With the opening of our Hangar 1A, LTP is responding to a renewed demand for aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul, as travel picks up and planes around the world are no longer grounded,” Janke said.

LTP, a joint venture between Lufthansa Technik AG and MacroAsia Corp., employs some 2,600 Filipinos across its facilities in Manila, Clark, Cebu, Davao, Kalibo and Puerto Princesa.