Lufthansa Technik Philippines plans to expand its operations in the Philippines by building a new aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Cebu or Davao.
“Our growth was limited in Naia [Ninoy Aquino International Airport]. We are in a very confined space and we have reached high utilization. Actually, sales are very strong next year and we have highest booking rate for next year, so we have to look at expansion possibilities and we will also look at locations either Clark or Cebu to build a hangar,” LTP president and chief executive Elmar Luther said.
“We are still evaluating it and it’s not yet final but the market is very positive,” he added.
LTP, a joint venture between MacroAsia Corp. and Lufthansa Technik AG of Germany, specializes in base maintenance of Airbus A320 family, A330, A340 and A380.
“Our biggest investment, Lufthansa Technik Philippines was very busy in 2016. LTP’s strategy to evolve from dependent on line maintenance services bore fruit, as its heavy maintenance business grew significantly,” MacroAsia president and chief operating officer Joseph Chua said.
Chua said LTP was able to sign up long-term contracts for Airbus 380 repairs for Qantas, British Airways and Lufthansa.
LTP secured base maintenance contracts with Asiana Airlines, AirAsia X, Jetstra Japan and Thai Air Asia X in 2016 as well as a five-year contract with British Airways.
Other services offered by LTP are engine and component support, lease-return checks, fleet technical management, engineering services, material management, aircraft painting and personnel assignment.
LTP booked P9.7 billion in revenues last year, up 26 percent from P7.7 billion in 2015.