Lufthansa Technik has entered a long-term agreement with Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (GAMECO) to subcontract the MRO work and painting on four Lufthansa Airbus A380s.
Speaking to FlightGlobal, GAMECO's general manager Norbert Marx says that the first Lufthansa A380 will be inducted to its base at Guangzhou Baiyun International airport in late October for a C-check and painting.
He adds that the subcontract agreement will improve the utilisation of its upcoming third hangar, which is expected to be ready by 2021.
"The signing of this long-term contract fully reflects Lufthansa's recognition of GAMECO's maintenance capabilities and quality, and further expands GAMECO's market share in Europe," says the MRO company.
GAMECO adds that it is expecting annual growth of 10% in its line maintenance business following the imminent switch of its parent carrier's China Southern Airlines' base to the new terminal 2 at Guangzhou Baiyun.
"We have also moved our line maintenance operations to the bigger terminal and we could see our line maintenance business growth at this rate for the next five to six years," says Marx.
Separately, he adds that its line maintenance bases at Melbourne Tullamarine and Sydney could be operational in August, pending Part 145 authorisation by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
The new stations will initially support aircraft from major shareholder China Southern Airlines, before expanding to support other Chinese carriers and third-party clients.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
