Lufthansa Technik VIP and Executive Jet Solutions says it believes there will be a market for between three and five Airbus A380 VIP completions.
It says it has a slot available for one of these at the end of 2013, going into 2014 if a customer were to book it soon. But because business completing A330s and A340s is good, says senior vice-president Walter Heerdt, it cannot hold the slot for long.
Chairman August Henningsen said today that his company is "committed to the A380 as a business aircraft", adding: "It will be a business aircraft". Since Lufthansa has taken delivery of its first A380 and is ramping up its engineering capability for the type, he says, Lufthansa Technik is well placed to be able to meet the needs of customers for the VIP version. The large aircraft completions market is not just a peripheral interest, said Henningsen, it is core business for the group.
Henningsen said the widebody VIP and government aircraft market has hardly been touched by the economic situation. The company has, he says, a letter of intent for a Boeing 787 VIP completion.
Source: Flight Daily News
