Qatar Airways among Lufthansa Technik's new clients

Premier airline Qatar Airways is among Lufthansa Technik Malta's newest customers, the aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facility's chief executive officer Louis Giordimaina has told The Times Business.

Initial operations at Lufthansa Technik Malta in 2003 saw Lufthansa and Air Malta make up 70 to 80 per cent of maintenance contracts. Six years later, 75 per cent of contracts are awarded by an expanding portfolio of third party customers, which includes long-standing client Spanair, Air One, BMI and German Wings.

Mr Giordimaina also confirmed Lufthansa Technik Malta is to recruit 250 people over the next 24 months as the company's new €60 million facility is on track for its official inauguration in April.

The facility - Lufthansa Technik's largest within its European maintenance network - will increase its workforce to 700 and will employ several Mcast students currently undergoing on-the-job training with Lufthansa Technik supervisors as soon as they complete their studies. Other recruits include newly graduated engineers and financial professionals. The average age of Lufthansa Technik Malta's workforce is in the early 20s.

Sitting on a 61,000-square metre footprint on the perimeter of Malta International Airport, Lufthansa Technik Malta will be able to accommodate two wide-body aircraft, like the Airbus A330 and A340, and three narrow-body aircraft such as the A320 and the Boeing 737, simultaneously. Its three hangars should be fully operational by the end of September.

According to the business plan, Lufthansa Technik Malta should clock up an average of 650,000 man hours of work a year on aircraft maintenance at full capacity by 2010. Mr Giordimaina says the Malta facility, in which the government has an eight per cent stake, beat the competition within the Lufthansa network for expansion thanks to its track record, costing and flexibility. The negotiation with the government and the unions was also instrumental in bringing the project to Malta, Mr Giordimaina pointed out.