Korean Air has changed its aircraft maintenance provider in Germany to Hangar 901 Aircraft Maintenance. The previous maintainer, Lufthansa Technik, terminated all contracts with its clients, leading to the search for a replacement.
Hangar 901 is a smaller maintenance company compared to Lufthansa Technik. Korean Air is minimizing the impact of the change by dispatching maintenance personnel to Germany.
According to the airline industry on the 16th, Korean Air recently signed a contract with Hangar 901 and is receiving operational maintenance at Frankfurt International Airport in Germany. The aircraft involved include three models used for passenger service: B-777, B-787, and A350, as well as two models used for cargo: B-777 and B-747.
Hangar 901, established in 2008, is a new company compared to the existing maintenance provider for Korean Air, Lufthansa Technik. The revenue and number of employees differ by at least several dozens of times.
Hangar 901, a private company, has fewer than 500 employees, and its publicly available revenue level was approximately 82 billion won as of 2023. Lufthansa Technik, a publicly listed company, recorded a revenue of 12.6 trillion won last year and has more than 23,400 employees.
Lufthansa Technik has provided operational maintenance and major maintenance for seven types of Korean Air's fleet, including the five types for which Hangar 901 has taken over, plus A330 and A380. However, on January 1 of this year, it notified all clients that it would terminate contracts based on its own business judgment.
While the specific reasons behind Lufthansa Technik's termination of contracts with clients remain unknown, it appears to be aimed at addressing issues related to the increasing demand for maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) as well as the rising proportion of external MRO work among group airlines.
Korean Air plans to address the gap created by switching maintenance providers from Lufthansa Technik to Hangar 901 by dispatching personnel. A Korean Air official noted, 'In the case of the A380, we did not sign a contract due to a lack of operational history and plans in Frankfurt,' adding, 'We plan to resolve the gap for the A330 and major maintenance with dispatched technicians.'