Lufthansa, Ethiopian seal A350 maintenance pact

July 28, 2016 in Business, Companies, Transport by Editor

KAMPALA, JULY28 – Pan African carrier Ethiopian Airlines today announced a contract under which Lufthansa Technik will provide a total maintenance solution for the airline’s Airbus A350 fleet. Ethiopian became the first African operator of European systems integrator Airbus latest offering after taking delivery of a single unit late June.

The airline which has conducted training flights for crew on routes such as Entebbe and Abuja expects another thirteen of the type in the coming months.The Total Component Support TCS® agreement entered with Lufthansa will run for ten years and covers the eventual fleet of 14 aircraft. The contract comprises component maintenance, repair and overhaul as well as access to a pool of spares. It mimics a similar agreement Ethiopian signed with the German Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul services provider for the Boeing 787 fleet.

A traditional Boeing customer, Ethiopian caused ripples when it signed an order for the A350 in 2012. It is also considering an order for the stretched A350-1000 variant which it is evaluating alongside the Boeing 777X.

“We are delighted that we were able to extend our long-term Boeing 787 component support with Lufthansa Technik to our newest A350 fleet. Our partnership with Lufthansa Technik, which goes back to the 1990s, thus finds a successful continuation into the future. We are convinced that we will receive the same professional and reliable support for our brand-new fleet,” said Mr. Mesfin Tasew, the COO at Ethiopian Airlines.