Airbus and Air France-KLM target a good portion of the A350 MRO cake

Airbus and Air France-KLM Maintenance & Engineering announced earlier this week that they plan to establish a joint venture company, dedicated to component maintenance service of the Airbus A350. Not just for the Air France fleet, but the JV targets to get a significant portion of the A350 cake as the global fleet grows. AirInsight asked the companies to share a few more details of the initiative. Airbus and AFI KLM M&E said they have started exclusive negotiations, with the objective to have the joint venture operational in the first half of 2024 after regulatory approval. The JV would be split 50-50 between the airframer and airline subsidiary, with each of them accounting for the business in the financial statements of the two companies. The press statement released on September 4 says that the joint venture will involve “the transfer of aircraft components assets belonging to both partners into the joint venture’s pool.” Asked to specify what assets are meant here, the two companies say: “We are talking about aircraft components, i.e. Line Replace Units, of all that is needed for airlines to operate. The JV would be able to offer a very wide and adapted scope of coverage, up to a full nose-to-tail service, but clearly scoped and sized to the need of each operator.” Optimized commercial offering With a growing fleet of A350s, Airbus and Air France-KLM see good opportunities for “an optimized commercial offering, aimed at better meeting the growing long-term maintenance needs of the Airbus A350 worldwide fleet.” Total orders for the A350 cleared the 1.000 orders milestone in July thanks to agreements signed at the Paris Airshow. On August 31, orders stood at 1.036, including 771 A350-900s, 226 -1000s, and 39 A350F freighters. Of these, 552 were delivered, with the first A350F delivery expected only in early 2026. With 38 A350-900s on order and 21 delivered, Air France is a major operator of the type. AFI KLM M&E not only supports this fleet, but also A350s from other airlines that have long-term partnerships for (composite) component repair, line maintenance, engineering, modifications, and aerostructures. Line and light maintenance is done by iGO, a joint-venture company with AFI KLM M&E that offers services for the A350, A330, and Boeing 737. Interestingly, auxiliary power units of the Air France A350s are maintained by Lufthansa Technik under a six-year contract that was announced in January. Air France says that since 2016, the A350 MRO program has grown to ten customers with 200 aircraft around the world. This includes Delta Air Lines, Fiji Airways, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and French Bee/Air Caraïbes. AFI KLM M&E and Airbus would like to grow this customer base. “This new company would be in a position to support any operator around the globe. The JV would start with already a significant number of aircraft supported, through an existing customer base, but also aiming at growing further by offering the best value proposition on the market to the benefit of the airlines.” On Thursday, Air France-KLM announced a Memorandum of Understanding for an extended partnership with Etihad Airways, which includes maintenance. The Abu Dhabi carrier operates and maintains its own A350-1000 fleet at Etihad Airways Engineering. It isn’t known if this partnership will tap into the JV with Airbus. Doing MRO themselves Not all A350 operators might be interested in using the services of the JV either. Lufthansa maintains its own A350 fleet and that of Asiana Airlines, China Airlines, and Japan Airlines at Lufthansa Technik, but has used the services of GAMECO in China itself. Iberia is doing MRO work on its own fleet and that of IAG partner British Airways, while HAECO Xiamen is servicing the fleet of Cathay Pacific. Singapore Airlines is doing MRO in-house at SIA Engineering Company, which formed a joint venture with Airbus in 2016 for wide-body maintenance. Finnair and Malaysia Airlines also have their own technical services departments for the type, as does Qatar Airways. Turkish Airlines uses Turkish Technic. Air China has outsourced line maintenance to AMECO and component support via Lufthansa Technik to China Aviation Supplies. While the MRO facilities of AFI KLM M&E are located at Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schiphol, maintenance of the A350s will take place at different locations. “The JV would have multiple logistic centers around the world to deliver great proximity and service level to airlines wherever they operate. The supply chain would then manage the flow of repairs at the best place, combining proximity capabilities and high-tech centers of excellence. For instance, great capabilities are already developed and will continue to be developed within AFI KLM E&M in Europe, including Paris and Amsterdam.”

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