FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
2002
2002 - 1194.PDF
Philippines focus MRO ambition There are major plans afoot to regenerate the former Clark air base Aconsortium led by UK consul tancy Mace has big plans for Clark International Airport, and is embarking on a major construction project to set up an $850million aircraft maintenance and training facility. It recently signed a 25- year lease agreement with the Clark Development Corporation. Clark is a former US air base, which was vacated in 1991, and is around 80km (50 miles) north of Manila. Clark Air Base was once the largest US military installation outside the USA, and home to the 13th Air Force and 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing. In 1993, two years after the departure of US forces, the vast base was declared a "spe cial economic zone" in a bid to encourage industrial development in the area. The Clark Development Corporation was established to administer the site. The first phase of the Mace project involves the construction of four 36,000m2 (390,000ft2) hangars over the next two to three years, each of which will have three bays capable of accommo dating Boeing 747-400s. Mace Transport International (MIT) managing director Gary Walker says negotiations are under way with several major airframe mainte nance, repair and overhaul (MRO) providers which have an interest in tak ing over the hangars. MTI was recently registered in the Philippines as a special-purpose company to act as lead consultant on the project. "We have spoken to anyone who has got business in Asia and operates in the MRO market," says Walker. "The market is there for hangars with the capability for 'C and 'D' checks." He declines to name any of the several companies he says have already signed "expressions of interest". However, under stood to be on the list are Singapore Technologies Aerospace, FedEx Express and Lufthansa Technik Philippines, among others. Component and aero engine MRO providers are also being targeted. "We are planning a whole series of partnership arrangements with end users," says Walker. The first phase of development is aimed at establishing the "maintenance operations centre", and would be com pleted 2-3 years after the start of construc tion work. Phase two is planned to follow 2-3 years later. It will include pilot and maintenance technician training facilities and more hangars tailored for general avi ation and business aircraft maintenance providers, creating a "one-stop shop avia tion complex", says Walker. The hangars can be let whole, or in units of one quar ter of floor area. Phase three would feature "more of the same", adds Walker, who does not believe the new facility will struggle to compete in a third-party maintenance market that many believe is already suffering from over-capacity. He says Clark is an attrac tive venue for the complex thanks to the availability of low-cost but technically qualified and English-speaking labour. One of the most ambitious projects aiming to use infrastructure left at the for mer Clark Air Base by the US Air Force in 1991 is the International Flying School (IFS). The idea is the brainchild of Garsol Management Innovators (GMII) president and chief executive Sean Gerard Villoria. His company has been involved with MAINTENANCE Lufthansa Technik in leap of faith from Hamburg to Manila Lufthansa Technik (LHT) has taken the bold step of moving its Airbus A330/A340 heavy maintenance line from Hamburg to Manila, after the establishment of Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP) as a joint venture with local company MacroAsia. The move fits in with LHT's strategy of shifting "routine", relatively labour-intensive maintenance checks to locations offering cheaper but technically competent and experi enced staff. LTP is preparing to start work on its first A340 heavy maintenance check in October, benefiting from manpower costs it reckons will be vastly lower than those commanded by German technicians. "The labour cost is 20% of Germany and there are no lan guage problems," says LTP vice president marketing and sales Rainer Janke. The company is 51 %-owned by LHT, with MacroAsia holding the bal ance, and was established in September 2000 with equity of $30 million following Philippine Airlines' (PAL) decision to spin off its mainte nance division. Employee numbers have since increased by around 450 to 1,750. Establishing the A330/A340 line has required an investment of around $20 million. "The operation, for the first year, was profitable," says Janke. A PAL A340 and A330 will be sent to Hamburg in June and July, respec tively, where LTP technicians will be trained to perform overhauls under the supervision of LHT staff. A PAL A340 will be the first to be overhauled in Manila, in October, and the first Lufthansa A340 will arrive there in December, adds Janke. All 12 of PAL's A330s and A340s will be overhauled "nose-to-tail" over a period of around a year. A second A330/A340 line is planned to open in 2003, and, in the longer-term, LTP hopes half of the air craft it overhauls by then will come from third-party customers. Despite the fact the aircraft them selves are to be brought to Manila, many of their installed components and systems will actually be sent back to Germany for repair by LHT, or to other vendors. This primarily covers avionics and pneumatic and hydraulic system parts. In order to work on Lufthansa air craft, and secure additional third-party work, LTP has applied to Europe's Joint Aviation Authorities for 145 certi fication. It already has the equivalent approvals from the US Federal Aviation Administration. The company inherited from PAL approvals to per form up to C-level checks on the 747-400 and D-checks on the 737. This work will "most probably" con tinue, according to Janke. LTP is also about to decide whether to add a General Electric CF6-80C2 overhaul shop, following PAL and Lufthansa's withdrawal from service of all of their CF6-50-powered passen ger aircraft. 'This decision has to be done soon," says Janke. "It is most probable we will stay with GE or CFM International. However the test cell can only accommodate the CF6- 50 so investment is needed to upgrade it," he adds. PAL's Boeing 747-400s and A330s are equipped with CF6-80C2s and - 80E1s respectively, while its A340s, A320s and 737-300/400s have vari ous versions of the CFM56. LTP's engine unit has a "tear-down" capabil ity for CFM56-3S, -5Bs and -5Cs, as well as CF6-80C2s and - 80E1s. One of LHT's other Asian mainte nance ventures - Ameco in Beijing, set up with partner Air China - spe cialises in Boeing aircraft types and Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce engines. LTP has faced criticism that the for mation of the joint venture has significantly increased PAL's mainte nance costs. But Janke says there are three main reasons why this has occurred, and none are related to LTP directly. Specifically, PAL's fleet has increased in size; the CF6-80E1s powering its A330s have been the subject of FAA airworthiness direc tives and service bulletins; and three maintenance-intensive 747-200s were temporarily introduced to the fleet as back-up aircraft. PAL president and chief operating officer Avelino Zapanta says the car rier is seeking compensation for the problems afflicting its A330 engines, most of which had to be taken off wing after only about 2,000 cycles. The airline claims the problems cost it $30-40 million to rectify. "GE is coming to discuss these matters because we feel GE has to somehow help us in this deficiency," says Zapanta. 30 16-22 APRIL 2002 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
