Sri Lankan Airlines to setup an aircraft repair hub with Lufthansa

Sri Lankan Airlines and Lufthansa work together

Sri Lanka’s national airline  is  planning to set up a regional aircraft repair hub with the help of German carrier Lufthansa at the new $209 million Mattala Rajapakse International Airport, Hambantota, CeyNews reported. The aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul operations will be a centrepiece of the airport.  Sri Lankan Airlines is  currently working out details with Lufthansa AG’s maintenance arm and Lufthansa Technik to open the repair facility at the  southern airport by next July.

It is expected to earn revenues of US$ 100 million a year. The project will see an investment of US$ 14 million in machinery and equipment. The facility will have four hangers and it is expected to employ about 400 people. This capability would be developed as a regional centre for repair and maintenance of Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft and Sri Lankan Airlines  hope to service about 110 aircraft annually. Airbus was also providing some US$ 25 million worth of repair equipment as part of a package to buy 10 new Airbus aircraft that would be delivered to Sri Lankan Airlines starting in October 2014.

The national carrier, which lost an estimated $190 million in the financial year ending March 2013, has signed a deal to buy six new Airbus A330-300 aircraft and four of the latest Airbus A350-900 jets as part of a major renewal of the ageing fleet. The airport and its surroundings  around 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) have been earmarked as a tax-free zone for foreign and local investors to set up warehouses, maintenance hangars and other industries recently.