Airlines

Lufthansa awarded Emirates A380 landing gear and base maintenance contracts

Emirates and Lufthansa Technik AG have recently signed two major contracts regarding comprehensive Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) services for Airbus A380 long-range aircraft, of which the Dubai-based airline is by far the world’s largest operator. In line with one of the new agreements, Lufthansa Technik will overhaul the main landing gears of Emirates’ double-deck flagships. Additionally, the MRO company will provide the airline with highly flexible extra capacity for A380 base maintenance such as C-checks. The latter agreement marks the first-ever outsourcing of heavy checks from Emirates’ comprehensive in-house A380 MRO capacities to an external provider.

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Over the next 13 years, the specialized workshop in the United Kingdom will overhaul main landing gear shipsets for some of Emirates’ superjumbos and in the process restore them to “as-good-as-new” condition before delivering them back to the customer’s MRO facilities for re-installation. The first of these landing gear overhauls is scheduled to begin in August.

The additional capacity for A380 base maintenance services will be provided by Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP) in Manila, the Lufthansa Technik Group’s competence center for heavy checks on the world’s largest passenger aircraft. The first Emirates A380 has arrived at LTP already at the end of January. To cope with the significantly increased demand for MRO services on the largest commercial airliner type, LTP has recently invested into additional A380 overhaul capacities. These are planned to go online in the second half of 2023 and will initially host additional checks for Emirates.

While the A380 base maintenance services are an entirely new field of cooperation for Emirates and Lufthansa Technik, the MRO provider and the airline already enjoy a long-standing business relationship in other technical segments.

Airlines

Air India Express Aircraft Engine Part Falls Outside Delhi Airport; DGCA Orders Probe

Air India Express flight skids off runway while landing at Kochi airport

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has launched an inquiry following reports that metal fragments were discovered at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport after an Air India Express flight made an emergency landing on Monday evening.

The emergency landing was prompted by a detected engine fault, but fortunately, the landing was executed safely without any injuries to the passengers.

The situation began when crew members of the Air India Express flight reported an engine issue, leading to the emergency landing. The DGCA has confirmed that a thorough investigation is underway and has directed that the aircraft undergo a comprehensive safety inspection.

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The discovery of metal debris outside the airport has raised concerns, prompting the DGCA to probe whether these fragments are linked to the aircraft involved in the emergency landing. Authorities are particularly focused on whether the metal pieces, which were found near the airport, originated from the same Air India Express flight that experienced engine trouble.

While preliminary assessments suggest that the debris could be a broken blade from an aircraft engine, the exact source remains unconfirmed. The airline has yet to verify if the metal fragments are from their aircraft.

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The Delhi Police, working in conjunction with the DGCA, have initiated their own investigation to determine the origin of the metal pieces. A technical team is set to analyze whether the fragments are associated with the aircraft in question. As the investigation continues, a case has been filed with the airport authority to address the matter.