Lufthansa Technik has started servicing Brussels Airlines aircraft.

Five A330s are receiving heavy maintenance and will be refitted with a new cabin and other not so intensive maintenance will be carried out on two A319s.

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech visited Lufthansa Technik this afternoon where the company was working on the first of the aircraft

The job required dedicated technical people and had to involve Airbus, the original suppliers of the aircraft.

Brussels Airlines vice-president of communications Geert Sciot said the airline could have gone to several other companies on the market which all offered same service, including one in Asia, but opted for Malta because of the price quality ratio and its excellent reputation.

Mr Fenech thanked Lufthansa Technik and Brussels Airlines as well as all players involved, including the employees.

He said that Lufthansa's investment and its employees' committment, had helped the country weather the financial storm.

Lufthansa Technik employed 600 workers, most of them Maltese, making the facility the second largest in Europe in terms of maintenance.