Lufthansa Technik is scheduled to open its four-bay A380 hangar today at Ameco Beijing, which will be the world's largest such facility and is part of a massive investment the MRO giant is making in the new jumbo aircraft.

LHT Chairman August Wilhelm Henningsen told ATWOnline in Hamburg that the company is investing approximately $100 million in the new hangar, along with another $100 million in a Frankfurt MRO hangar, €120 million in the N3 Engine Overhaul Services joint venture with Rolls-Royce and another €100 million in spares.

It is moving forward following a year in which its own revenue growth outpaced that of the world market. It enjoyed a 4.6% boost in full-year turnover to €3.6 billion in 2007, citing a 6.7% increase in business from customers outside Lufthansa Group. Pre-tax earnings rose 18.6% to €287 million. Chief Executive-Finance Peter Jansen told this website that 61.2% of LHT's business is third-party, up from 60% in 2006. The company worked on 1,551 aircraft last year.

"In view of rising passenger numbers and growing fleets, but also with regard to continuing high fuel prices and price pressure from the airlines, Lufthansa Technik was very successful in 2007," Henningsen said.

"Although the global market is growing, I anticipate Lufthansa [Group carriers] will remain our largest customers," he predicted. LHT added 47 new customers last year, bringing its worldwide customer base to 630. It signed contracts worth €440 million in new business last year.

Henningsen said the MRO market continues to be very fragmented. "We see that some carriers have stopped offering MRO to other airlines, but we also see new competitors in Asia or the Middle East with big plans. LHT is still the largest player and we have a 12%-14% market share of the global MRO business." The worldwide MRO business is worth an estimated $38 billion.

Back home, LHT is building a new research and development center in Hamburg for its Cabin Innovation business unit that will feature state-of-the-art testing laboratories and exhibition areas for new products being developed for international customers. The five-story, 6,500-sq.-m. building involves an investment of €10 million. "The new building will represent an expansion of Lufthansa Technik's competence in the field of cabin innovation," Henningsen, said.