Summary
- Lufthansa Technik Philippines has accomplished its first-ever twelve-year check on an Airbus A380.
- The extensive procedure involved stripping down the aircraft’s cabin and replacing its landing gear.
- There was a rise in demand for A380 maintenance services on account of the return to service of the superjumbo.
History has been made on this planet of Lufthansa Technik’s Airbus A380 maintenance, following the completion of the first-ever twelve-year check involving the sort in Manila. The procedure took place on the Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP) facility, with the aircraft involved having now flown home to Germany.
Supporting the A380’s return to service
The previous few years have been turbulent for the double-decker Airbus A380, with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic prompting operators to place the quadjet into long-term storage as demand fell. Nonetheless, with industrial aviation now rebounding strongly, demand for the superjumbo’s capability is present once more, as is the demand for maintenance of the sort.
LTP CEO Elmar Lutter explains that:
“The return of the A380 to the fleets of many airlines has also boosted demand for maintenance services enormously. We’re benefiting quite well from this with our A380 expertise here in Manila, which we recently even expanded with the third overhaul line. In view of the delays within the delivery of diverse recent widebody aircraft, I’m certain that services for the A380 will remain an integral a part of our portfolio for years to come back.”
Photo: Lufthansa Technik
While LTP has already facilitated three and six-year checks for Lufthansa’s reactivated Airbus A380s, the twelve-year procedure is a rather more extensive matter. The primary aircraft to undergo this process was D-AIMC, which, in response to Flightradar24, flew from Frankfurt (FRA) to Manila (MNL) in October 2023.
What did the procedure involve?
Given the extensive nature of the twelve-year check, the aircraft’s cabin needed to be stripped bare to enable this before any of the relevant inspections could happen. Most notably, this involved the removal of all 509 of the A380’s seats, in addition to other large components that were replaced or temporarily dismantled.
While these removals enabled thorough internal inspections, the superjumbo’s external components were also subject to checks as a part of the procedures. One in every of the largest feats on the surface of the aircraft was the full-scale alternative of its 22-wheel landing gear, which is spread across five individual assemblies. Three jacks and a security stay supported the colossal aircraft during this process.
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