“The year 2011 was a year of contrasts,” Lufthansa Technik AG (LHT) chairman August Wilhelm Henningsen told reporters at the Singapore Airshow. “With growth of the airlines, there’s also an increase in demand for MRO services. We have to cope with the increasing number of airplanes around the world … The challenge in the MRO industry is how to gain productivity in the new technology of the new airplanes which are coming.”
Though weak airline profit margins lead to increased price pressure on the MRO market, he noted the MRO industry is growing overall.
“2012, Year of the Dragon, [will see] a lot of challenges for the airline industry, a lot of challenges for the MRO industry,” Henningsen said. “We are glad we are not in the shrinking market, but in the growth market … we are striving for getting as much as possible out of this growth potential for this business.”
And though Airbus and Boeing increasingly move into the MRO side of the business on their own, LHT does not feel pressure. “I think we still feel very good with what we are doing,” Henningsen said. “We know all the strengths and weaknesses of the airplanes and the operation … at the end of the day [aircraft manufacturers] are asking us how the airplanes are operating … they know the strengths, we know the weaknesses.”
Article Source : ATW Daily News
No comments:
Post a Comment