EME Aero (Engine Maintenance Europe), a joint venture of Lufthansa Technik AG and MTU Aero Engines AG, has officially acquired the building site in Poland’s Aviation Valley near Rzeszów airport for a planned maintenance shop which will be one of the most advanced maintenance facilities in the aerospace industry. Between them, the two companies intend to invest a total of approximately €150 million in the region by 2020.
EME Aero is due to be up and running by 2020 and will have approximately 800 employees. The planned annual capacity is for over 400 shop visits of PW1000G-series geared turbofan engines, which power the Airbus A320neo family of air-craft and other airliners.
According to Derrick Siebert, EME Aero CEO: “We have made a big step forward in our project of providing maintenance for an entirely new generation of commercial engines in Europe. We are very pleased. All the more so as the location in Jasionka in Poland’s Aviation Valley offers us the optimum infrastructure for our new MRO company.” And Uwe Zachau, EME Aero COO, adds: “The acquisition of the land marks a key milestone for us. Now we can press ahead at full speed with the construction of the new joint shop.”
MTU Aero Engines is already established in Poland. MTU Aero Engines Polska, a subsidiary of MTU Aero Engines, opened shop in 2009 and will be located in close proximity to the new building. The Polish subsidiary carries out development and production activities and is responsible for the assembly of the low-pressure turbine for PW1000G-series engines.
For Lufthansa Technik, the new JV is the second big move to ramp up its activities in Poland. In September 2017, building began in Środa Śląska for its joint venture company with engine manufacturer GE Aviation that will overhaul GEnx-2B engines and, at a later date, GE9X engines.
