Air Transport

^{By Aimee Turner in Budapest}

Although it is not in the running to be a Boeing 787 GoldCare partner, Lufthansa Technik (LHT) expects to participate in the maintenance services marketplace for the new twinjet.

Speaking at the fifth anniversary celebrations for Lufthansa Technik Budapest, the division’s director Peter Huijbers said that, while its airline sister has yet to make a decision on acquiring the twinjet, the 787 will remain an ideal business opportunity.

The German maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services business has for some time maintained its stance of not joining such manufacturer-led programmes as the Airbus MRO network, claiming there is little additional value for the independent MRO or for its airline customers.

Huijbers said the increased use of composites should give the German MRO provider an added advantage as an early developer of composite repair technology at its centres in Hamburg, Shenzhen in China, and Tulsa, Oklohoma in the USA.