As the Airbus A380 sees fresh wind beneath its wings in commercial aviation, Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW), a joint venture between ST Engineering and Airbus, has reestablished its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) activities for the superjumbo at its Dresden, Germany facility, and is gearing up for expansion.

The first A380 to arrive is 9H-GLOBL, an ex-China Southern A380 owned by UK start-up Global Airlines. EFW is contracted by Global to conduct airframe heavy maintenance services to facilitate the airliner’s entry into commercial service. Financial terms have not been disclosed.

“It will be put through its paces by our team over the coming weeks,” says EFW on LinkedIn, after welcoming the A380’s arrival in Germany.

“We will carry out a comprehensive maintenance in our hangar, including mandatory inspections for all systems and component replacements.”

Once the MRO work is complete, the Global Airlines A380 will leave Dresden to receive further cabin updates and its final livery. The aircraft is expected to be pressed into service on flights from London to New York and Los Angeles.

“Given our years of experience in servicing the A380, we are excited to reestablish our MRO activities for this unique aircraft,” says EFW chief executive officer Jordi Boto in a statement. “We look forward to supporting our new customer Global Airlines with its first A380 and seeing more aircraft of this type back in the sky.”

Notably, EFW says it has in fact received A380 MRO orders from other customers, and will expand its A380 maintenance activities from 2025 onwards.

“The A380 has been recommissioned by many airlines across international routes and is making a strong comeback in recent times, which is expected to give rise to a growing demand for its maintenance services. EFW is one of the few companies in the world with deep MRO experience in the A380, having carried out some 50 heavy maintenance jobs including cabin conversions for the platform,” notes the JV.

Rotation

For its part, Global Airlines sees its contract with EFW as a “significant step” in its quest to see its first A380 return to flight.

“MSN120’s journey back to the skies has taken yet another significant step forward and I am excited to see our first aircraft fly to Dresden for this work to progress,” says Global Airlines founder and CEO James Asquith.

“We have overcome significant hurdles over the past 12 months, and we are now very much advancing our proposition, partnerships, team and operational readiness and our partnership with EFW is the latest giant leap forward. I am looking forward to being in Dresden and seeing the work.”

Related Articles:

Featured image credited to EFW

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *