Making the most of the Middle East

Walter Heerdt

Lufthansa Technik senior vice president for sales and marketing Walter Heerdt discusses the company’s regional development

You made a number of announcements at the Dubai Airshow. Is it fair to say that business remains strong in the region for Lufthansa Technik?

We have been affected by the global financial crisis, but only in a limited way. We did our investment and made a number of decisions a year or so ago, which have all been completed. In terms of the market, it is not growing, but luckily we have been able to secure as much business as we did last year. We had an exceptionally good year in 2008, and in 2009 we were confident we could reach similar levels.

Can you be more specific?

The company, which is part of the Deutsche Lufthansa group, last year generated a turnover of EUR5.5 billion (US$8.2 billion). Around 65% of this came from external customers and the remainder came from Lufthansa, so, as you can see, we are very much dependent on the external market, which is good as this is where we are successful.

What is Lufthansa Technik’s market share in the MRO sector?

We enjoy 12% market share globally, in this area of business, and sales levels have not declined. People are parking aircraft that need a lot of MRO at the moment, so that is benefiting us.

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In 2011 Lufthansa believes the market will return to 2008 levels, but with moderate growth only.

How are you developing the customer base in the Middle East?

We have a big customer base going from Oman to Lebanon, Jordan and into North Africa, and also Saudi Arabia. The Middle East market seems stable and we have not seen such drastic drops in demand as in other places across the globe. The region is not making deferrals on aircraft deliveries either. In commercial terms the region is very important for us and our new engagements with Qatar Airways, Oman Air and Etihad Airways confirm that.

Are you entering any new markets?

We are placing a strong emphasis on VIP and business aviation. We have done a lot of research into in-flight entertainment in this area, and have invested EUR12 million ($17,800,000) in a new building which is dedicated to innovation. Certain components of this can be applied to the commercial market too, and we are working on developments in cabin entertainment and cabin management systems. Furthermore, our Total Material Operations (TMO) product is proving to be very successful and shows we are continuing to develop our product spectrum. In fact, Safi Airways has just extended its contract with us to include its Airbus A340-300.