Ground-breaking ceremony for Lufthansa Technik Puerto Rico

- Construction of five overhaul lines begins
- 37 mechanics and engineers already in training

Alejandro Garcia Padilla, the governor of Puerto Rico, and Dr. Thomas
Stueger, Chief Executive Products, Services & IT at Lufthansa
Technik, symbolically turned the sod today to mark the start of the
construction of the company’s new overhaul facility, Lufthansa
Technik Puerto Rico. With this step, Lufthansa Technik is
strengthening its presence in the Americas, which are already home to
Hawker Pacific Aerospace, BizJet and Lufthansa Technik Component
Services, by adding base maintenance services for Airbus A320 family
aircraft.

“Lufthansa Technik Puerto Rico will enhance our access to the world’s
largest aviation market in many respects and bring us closer to both
existing and potential customers. In Jetblue and Spirit Airlines we
have already reliable partners and customers whose airframe
maintenance needs and requirements can be optimally met by Lufthansa
Technik Puerto Rico,” said Dr. Stueger. “The great support we
experience from Governor Padilla and his administration team is much
appreciated and crucial for moving our project forward.”

“Puerto Rico’s partnership with Lufthansa Technik represents the
cornerstone of the aviation industry my administration is
developing,” said Governor Alejandro García Padilla. “Lufthansa
Technik’s investment elevates the Island’s presence in the aerospace
industry and helps create highly-skilled jobs in a fast-growing
sector of the world economy.”

The new hangar in Puerto Rico will feature five overhaul lines across
more than 215,000 square feet of space. Thanks to its
state-of-the-art technologies, aircraft remain in a single line for
painting following their overhauls. This saves time and money, since
the aircraft do not need to be towed to a separate line for painting.

The layout of the hangar is based on existing base maintenance
operations of the Lufthansa Technik Group, where valuable know-how in
the overhaul of this short-haul aircraft type is bundled: rapid
turnaround times and high overhaul quality at competitive prices
ensure customer satisfaction. “We are transferring this recipe for
success to our new American facility,” explains Sören Stark, Senior
Vice President Aircraft Base Maintenance Lufthansa Technik. Spirit
Airlines will become Lufthansa Technik Puerto Rico’s first customer
in July 2015 with JetBlue to follow in November.

As of 2016, up to 400 highly qualified employees will overhaul and
maintain aircraft in the hangar’s five lines. The young company
already has more than 50 employees, most of whom are from Puerto
Rico. Training is also underway full steam: the first course in
structural mechanics, with 18 participants, concluded in September,
and the trainees are currently at Lufthansa Technik Budapest
(Hungary) or Shannon Aerospace (Ireland) for further training.
“Through our practical training at established overhaul sites, we
ensure that Lufthansa Technik’s quality proposition is fulfilled all
over the world,” says Elmar Lutter, CEO of Lufthansa Technik Puerto
Rico. Currently further training courses are being held in Puerto
Rico.

With the support of Lufthansa Technical Training and specially
designed courses, the University of Puerto Rico and the FAA-certified
Puerto Rico Aviation Maintenance Institute in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, are
making sure that the mechanics receive the necessary knowledge of
metalworking in base maintenance as well as type training for the
Airbus A320.

As of 2015, training for young mechanics without prior aviation
skills will also begin. At this time, the Aviation Maintenance
Institute in Ceiba will move to Aguadilla near the new Lufthansa
Technik Puerto Rico operation. Here, under the roof of the newly
founded Aerospace and Aviation Institute of Puerto Rico (AAIPR), it
will play an important role in building up the Lufthansa Technik
facility as well as other MRO operations at Rafael Hernández Airport
(BQN) in Aguadilla. “With the Aviation Maintenance Institute, the
University of Puerto Rico is supporting Lufthansa optimally through
its offer of modular training courses and the combination of work
experience and studies,” explains Prof. Wilmer Arroyo, Executive
Director of the AAIPR.