Lufthansa Technik has sealed major new long-term contracts for the strategic component support of renowned ultra-low-cost (ULCC) airline brands Wizz Air, Frontier Airlines and Volaris. The new agreements take into account the three carriers’ rapidly growing fleets and thereby offering new levels of synergies and flexibility for further growth. Based on current fleet plans, the new Total Component Support (TCS) deals will ultimately cover approximately 1,000 aircraft of the Airbus A320 family.
Lufthansa Technik’s Total Component Support (TCS) usually encompasses services such as spare parts pooling and an MRO coverage for thousands of part numbers required in regular airline operations. While all three aforementioned airlines will make extensive use of these standard offerings, the recently signed contracts also include more specialised service packages that directly address any airline’s individual requirements and will tailor the contracted component supply accordingly.
The ten-year contract with Wizz Air Hungary, Wizz Air UK, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi and Wizz Air Malta, for example adds dedicated component lease and supply services to six logistic hubs in Europe (Katowice, Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia, Rome, London) and one in the Middle East (Abu Dhabi). Moreover, the contract provides additional flexibility for the airline that can now easily extend it to additional Air Operator Certificates (AOCs) it might set up in the future. Currently, Wizz Air operates a fleet of 166 A320 family aircraft, but it is set to grow to 500 aircraft by 2030.
The agreement with Frontier Airlines also includes special on-site team support in which Lufthansa Technik’s experts will be working together with the airline’s local teams to supply, return and troubleshoot components at eleven maintenance stations throughout the United States. The airline can also rely on Lufthansa Technik’s extensive local component MRO capabilities. An overarching supply concept will moreover make sure that critical material is strategically positioned in dedicated home base stocks and warehouses all across Frontier’s operation. By 2029, Frontier’s fleet will have nearly tripled from 115 A320-family aircraft today to 272 aircraft.
The contract with Volaris boosts Lufthansa Technik’s components business in the Americas by another triple-digit number of aircraft. From 114 aircraft operating today, the carrier´s fleet is set to almost double in the duration of the contract. Volaris will not only benefit from the MRO provider’s local parts pooling capabilities, but it will also make intensive use of Lufthansa Technik’s AVIATAR digital operations suite, jointly exploiting smart services such as Condition Monitoring, Reliability Monitoring and predictive component maintenance with the aim to avoid in-flight component failures and keep the number of technical diversions to a minimum.
