Lufthansa Technik sales revenues climbed by more than €500 million, surging from €5.404 billion to €5.918 billion, an increase of 9.5% above the previous year’s total. The company generated adjusted EBIT of €425 million (previous year: €415 million), an increase of 2%.
The Americas region produced the highest level of growth with a 20% increase in revenue year on year, ahead of the region Europe, Middle East and Africa with a gain of nearly 9%. Asia generated modest revenue growth of 3.4%.
“Growth of 10%, a level that clearly outpaced the market, is a strong performance. We have every right to be satisfied, because we have demonstrated once again that we are the driving force in our industry,” said Dr. Johannes Bussmann, the Chairman and CEO of Lufthansa Technik.
During fiscal year 2018, Lufthansa Technik gained 29 additional aircraft operators as customers and signed 576 contracts for new business worth €5 billion.
LHT said that the aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry is undergoing a very dynamic transformation process: Business conditions are changing even as the market is set to grow steadily at an expected rate of at least 5% annually. More and more new aircraft types with new technologies, materials, components and engines are entering flight operations as part of a process that is unlike anything seen in decades. At the same time, new actors – the
manufacturers of aircraft and components – are joining the growing MRO market.
“The market is both extremely attractive and challenging. For us as the world market leader, this means continuing to develop and, of course, continuing to invest,” Bussmann noted.
For this reason, Lufthansa Technik boosted its investments once again last year, from €233 million to €241 million. The focal points of these investments were the development of digital products and services, the expansion of the company’s international production network, partnerships with manufacturers, particularly in the area of engine overhaul, and the hiring of new employees.
Lufthansa Technik has set up the AVIATION DataHub in March 2019. The stand-alone company offers an independent platform for all data generated by aviation.
“We are the only company in the world that offers an integrated and manufacturer-independent digital platform like AVIATAR, where we can pool our decades of experience in the maintenance of aircraft, components and engines,” Bussmann explained. “The establishment of the AVIATION DataHub is another very important step to ensuring this independence and guaranteeing airlines’ control of the data of their fleets and the use of this information.”
In the area of engine maintenance, Lufthansa Technik moved ahead in 2018 with efforts to forge joint ventures with engine manufacturers. XEOS, a joint production platform with GE Aviation, celebrated its topping-out ceremony in 2018. Beginning in the spring of 2019, it will maintain, repair and overhaul the first large-sized engines from the latest generation of General Electric engines on behalf of their owners. EME Aero, a joint venture with MTU Aero Engines, laid the cornerstone last year for the construction of one of the largest and most modern MRO shops for state-of-the-art geared turbofan engines. This facility is scheduled to go into operation at the end of 2019.
Investments in digitalization and the network were supported in 2018 by a substantial increase in the size of the company’s workforce. The headcount of Lufthansa Technik AG and its 21 fully consolidated companies rose by an average of 6% during the year, from 21,194 (2017) to 22,537 (2018).