Press ReleaseElbe Flugzeugwerke Re-enters A380 Maintenance Market
Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW), a joint venture of ST Engineering and Airbus, today announced that it is re-entering the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) market for the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380. EFW will carry out an upcoming A380 airframe maintenance service for Global Airlines, a new customer of EFW, at its facility in Dresden, Germany in 4Q2024.
Under a contract signed with Global Airlines, EFW will conduct airframe heavy maintenance services to facilitate entry into commercial service of the airline’s first A380 aircraft. EFW will be responsible for all scheduled maintenance, including mandatory inspections and component replacements. In addition to Global Airlines, EFW has received A380 MRO orders from other customers and will expand its A380 maintenance activities from 2025 onwards.
“Given our years of experience in servicing the A380, we are excited to re-establish our MRO activities for this unique aircraft,” said Jordi Boto, CEO of EFW. “We look forward to supporting our new customer, Global Airlines, with its first A380 and seeing more aircraft of this type back in the sky.”
“Joining forces with EFW is the next significant step in our quest to seeing our first A380 in the sky,” said James Asquith, CEO and Founder of Global Airlines. 9H-GLOBL’s journey back to the skies has taken yet another significant step forward and I am excited to see our first aircraft fly to Dresden for this work to progress. We’ve overcome significant hurdles over the past 12 months, and we are now very much advancing our proposition, partnerships, team and operational readiness and our partnership with EFW is the latest giant leap forward. I am looking forward to being in Dresden and seeing the work underway.
The A380 has been recommissioned by many airlines across international routes and is making a strong comeback in recent times, which is expected to give rise to a growing demand or its maintenance services. EFW is one of the few companies in the world with deep MRO experience in the A380, having carried out some 50 heavy maintenance jobs including cabin conversions for the platform.
About
Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH(EFW), a joint venture of ST Engineering and Airbus, combines various aviation and technology activities under a single roof: development and manufacturing of fibre-reinforced composite components for aircraft structures and interiors of the entire Airbus family, the conversion of passenger aircraft into freighter configuration, maintenance and repair of Airbus aircraft as well as engineering services in the context of certification and approval. The company has a workforce of over 2,000 employees, achieved revenues of approximately €600 million in 2023 and is on a sustainable course of growth. With over 20 years of experience and more than 40 conversion customers worldwide, thereof the largest Express carriers in North America and Europe but also renowned General Freight and Combination Carriers, EFW is the Centre of Excellence for freighter conversions and driving the development of the Airbus freighter family. For more information about EFW, please visit www.efw.aero or follow us on LinkedIn.
ST Engineering is a global technology, defence and engineering group with a diverse portfolio of businesses across the aerospace, smart city, defence and public security segments. The Group harnesses technology and innovation to solve real-world problems, enabling a more secure and sustainable world. Headquartered in Singapore, it has operations spanning Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the U.S., serving customers in more than 100 countries. ST Engineering reported revenue of over $10b in FY2023 and ranks among the largest companies listed on the Singapore Exchange. It is a component stock of MSCI Singapore, FTSE Straits Times Index and Dow Jones Sustainability Asia Pacific Index.
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Global Airlines, officially launched in 2023, is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The airline is led by CEO James Asquith and backed by aviation experts and investors around the world. The airline has commenced a fleet development programme with one A380 fully acquired and more to follow. The inaugural passenger flight will take place in 2025. Global Airlines is bold, with a vision to provide the best way to fly, inspired by the golden age of travel. Its core proposition is to deliver unparallelled customer experience across all cabins and services using the A380 aircraft, the favourite aircraft to fly by travellers.
