PW1000G engine in service. Credit: MTU Aero Engines AG.

Lufthansa Technik and MTU Aero Engines have finalised the establishment of a new joint venture (JV) to carry out the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of geared turbofan engines.

The 50-50 Engine Maintenance Europe (EME Aero) JV is the result of an agreement on the general principles signed between the companies in February.

To be based in Poland, EME Aero will employ 800 people in future.

The JV is expected to receive a total investment of around €150m from its owners by 2020.

“It is a tremendous motivation to push this project of providing maintenance for an entirely new generation of commercial engines in Europe to a successful start.”

Lufthansa Technik project manager Derrick Siebert has been appointed as CEO of EME Aero while Dr Uwe Zachau from MTU Aero Engines has been named as COO.

Expected to be operational by 2020, the JV aims to service more than 400 PW1000G-series geared turbofan genies annually, which are used to power the Airbus A320neo family of aircraft and other aircraft.

Siebert said: “With this project, we have taken the big challenge to get EME Aero up and running in a short time. Without our combined project team, unifying the strengths of both stakeholders, it would not have been possible to achieve this milestone on schedule.

“For us, it is a tremendous motivation to push this project of providing maintenance for an entirely new generation of commercial engines in Europe to a successful start.”

With EME Aero, Lufthansa Technik aims to make its second big move in expanding its activities in Poland, following the beginning of construction of its new engine MRO JV facility with GE Aviation in Sroda Slaska.

Zachau said: “Over the coming two years, we’ll have to tackle an ambitious ramp-up plan for our joint shop.”

In 2003, Lufthansa Technik and MTU began a 50-50 JV in Malaysia to repair low-pressure turbines and high-pressure compressor airfoils.