Emirates to be first customer at Lufthansa Technik's new Clark facility

MANILA, Philippines — Even with construction still underway, Lufthansa Technik Philippines has already secured the first customer for its latest base maintenance facility at Clark International Airport, landing a multiyear deal with Emirates. Announcing the deal on Wednesday, Lufthansa Technik said Emirates had commissioned it to perform heavy maintenance checks on its Airbus A380 fleet—the world’s largest commercial aircraft—until 2030. Lufthansa said the United Arab Emirates flag carrier will become the launch customer of its Clark facility once operations begin in 2028. In the meantime, the checks are being performed at Lufthansa Technik Philippines’ existing maintenance facility at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) in Pasay City, where Emirates has been allotted two base maintenance lines. “As the world’s leading provider of MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) services, we are proud to support the operation of the world’s largest passenger aircraft and to further strengthen our collaboration with Emirates,” said Kai Roepke, Lufthansa Technik’s vice president for corporate sales in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Emirates’ commitment to become the launch customer of the Clark facility forms part of its recently renewed multiyear contract with the maintenance, repair and overhaul MRO provider. The agreement extends a partnership that began in 2023, during which Lufthansa Technik Philippines has performed more than 30 maintenance checks on Emirates’ A380s. Emirates operates the world’s largest fleet of the double-decker aircraft. READ: Lufthansa breaks ground on largest PH investment yet Lufthansa Technik said the renewed agreement was among its largest contracts by value to date, although it did not disclose the amount. Lufthansa Technik Philippines broke ground on the Clark facility in August, with construction expected to proceed in two phases. The first phase can initially accommodate three wide-body aircraft at a time, including two A380s. A second phase, which will be about twice the size of the first, is planned after operations begin in 2028. This will eventually raise the facility’s total capacity to nine aircraft. At full buildout, the Clark facility will be larger than Lufthansa Technik Philippines’ existing facility at Naia, which has seven aircraft bays. Lufthansa Technik Philippines is a joint venture between the Lucio Tan-led MacroAsia Corp. and Germany-based Lufthansa Technik AG. INQ