Lufthansa Technik to provide aircraft maintenance services for Virgin Atlantic

At an official ceremony, Virgin Atlantic (VAA) has signed an
agreement with Lufthansa Technik (LHT) to provide its aircraft
maintenance services during the next eight years marking a commitment
of more than $100m over the term of the contract.

This new long term contract is a significant extension to an existing
agreement to additionally cover Boeing 747-400 C-checks, A340 base
maintenance and CF6-80 and Trent 500 thrust reverser services for the
airline’s B747-400 and A340 fleet based at Gatwick and Heathrow
airport.

Steve Griffiths, Chief Operating Officer, Virgin Atlantic said,
“Combining the services within one contract will provide significant
synergies and efficiencies for both partners. We’re delighted to
welcome the team to our hangar today to further build on this
important and successful relationship and we look forward to working
with LHT during the coming years.”

August Wilhelm Henningsen, commented: “Lufthansa Technik’s global
network will continue to support Virgin Atlantic with all necessary
maintenance, repair and overhaul services. This creates the sound
technical base which is premise for the airline to focus on its
successful key business – flying.”

The Boeing 747-400 C-checks will be performed at Lufthansa Technik
Maintenance International in Frankfurt, whilst the repair and
overhaul services for the thrust reversers will be carried out at the
airframe related component (ARC®) business unit of Lufthansa Technik
in Hamburg.

Additionally, the two companies have agreed to the early extension of
the current five-year base maintenance contract for the airline’s
Airbus A340 fleet by a further six years through to 2019. The base
maintenance services are carried out at Lufthansa Technik
Philippines.

Phil Maher, Director of Engineering at Virgin Atlantic said, “Virgin
Atlantic has previously worked with Lufthansa Technik on a number of
MRO services. With the success of the A340 Airframe Maintenance
services agreement strong collaborative working relationships and
delivery of product and quality have been established. This has
formed the foundation of this extended agreement to also include
further services within the LHT Group.”