APOC Aviation (APOC) has finalised a twelve-month green-time lease agreement for a CFM56-5A engine with Hamburg-based global operator Condor. The engine, secured as a spare by Condor's technical team, is expected to be installed immediately on one of the airline's Airbus A320 aircraft for the full duration of the lease.
Condor has previously leased engines from APOC, and once this lease ends, the engine will return to APOC's portfolio for teardown and part-out next year.
According to Bruce Ansell, Technical Manager of APOC's Engines Division, demand for CFM56-5A engines remains exceptionally high. “A significant number of CFM56-5A engines are still in operation, supporting older Airbus A320 family aircraft. Due to increased demand and limited availability, prices for CFM56 engines and their components have been rising, and we have been building our lease portfolio of these engine variants,” he said.
Ansell also noted that airlines are focusing on reliability and maintenance solutions designed to minimise downtime and optimise fleet utilisation. “Although new engine types are gaining traction, with current availability and reliability issues, we see demand for CFM56 engines continuing through 2030,” he added.
Condor, which has operated for almost seventy years and serves over eight million passengers annually across seventy destinations, is in the process of renewing its short- and medium-haul fleet with brand-new A320neo and A321neo aircraft.
Ronald Restorf, Asset Manager at Condor, explained, “Until the completion of the modernisation we are still operating A320ceo aircraft that are maintained by Condor Technik, our own maintenance organisation. For these aircraft and their maintenance, we need a reliable partner that supports us with the engine handling and whose focused portfolio is closely aligned to our lease requirement.”
