Enschede, June 6, 2020
Plans for maintenance and service in acceleration
This morning the first plane that will be parked because of the corona virus arrived at Twente Airport. It is a Boeing 747-400 from Lufthansa. In the coming weeks, the airline will park a total of 6 planes of this type, a so called widebody aircraft, at Twente Airport.
Due to the loss of demand and the many travel restrictions, airlines keep a large part of their fleet grounded. Twente Airport offers
parking spaces for aircraft from national and international airlines and leasing companies. The parking management and maintenance service for the six Lufthansa planes is carried out by a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group, the maintenance company Lufthansa Technik that will support the maintenance activity from Amsterdam.
With this the plan to develop maintenance activities at Twente Airport gets off to a flying start and it will make a positive contribution to creating business activity at the Technology Base and to the economic development of the region.
Maintenance and service
Twente Airport is working with development company Oost NL to realize a cluster for aircraft maintenance at Twente Airport. A study conducted by Airbus Consulting outlines a favourable perspective for developing aircraft maintenance activities at Twente Airport. Meiltje de Groot, CEO of Twente Airport: “With the maintenance cluster, which includes amongst others renowned aircraft maintenance companies, we want to offer airlines and lease companies the high-quality service they require in a flexible and innovative manner. The major European airports have less and less physical space. In addition, maintenance is also at the expense of the available slots. The corona crisis is causing a temporary dip in transport demand, but a growing demand for parking spaces for aircraft for the short term but also for the somewhat longer term. As transport demand grows again, the demand for maintenance will increase again.”
Partners
In due course the plan provides for the construction of additional parking spaces and maintenance facilities. The maintenance activities at Twente Airport offer opportunities for innovative activity in the adjacent business park of the Technology Base, of which Twente Airport is part and fit within the applicable airport degree. In Overijssel, many companies are associated with the aircraft industry. In addition, there is a connection to education at different levels. Regional and national partners for the maintenance cluster are searched at strategic, tactical and operational level. Like AELS (Aircraft Endof-Life Solutions) which is already established at Twente Airport. AELS is an important partner for aircraft owners requiring disassembly and dismantling solutions for their end-of-life assets. The shareholders of Technology Base, the province of Overijssel and the municipality of Enschede, are enthusiastic about the plan.
You can find more information at the official website of the airport, www.twente-airport.nl.
