IndiGo airlines taps Lufthansa Philippines’ maintenance services

MANILA, Philippines—IndiGo, India’s largest budget airline, has tapped the services of local aircraft maintenance provider Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP).

In a statement, LTP said it had been hired by IndiGo to conduct “lease return checks” on seven of its Airbus A320 aircraft. The first of the planes will arrive at LTP’s Manila hangar in June 2012.

“Our partnership with LTP, one of the leading maintenance, repair and overhaul providers in Asia, will enable IndiGo to use LTP’s proven competence, experience and expertise in on-time completion of lease return checks,” IndiGo said.

LTP is a joint venture between MacroAsia Corp., a sister company of flag carrier Philippine Airlines, and Germany’s Lufthansa, the world’s largest aviation conglomerate.

“We are very pleased to welcome India’s fastest growing airlines and largest low-cost operator to LTP this June,” LTP vice-president for marketing and sales Dominik Wiener-Silva said.

“We are fully committed in providing our expert support to ensure timely lease return of IndiGo’s A320 aircraft. We hope that this agreement is a start of a long-term partnership with one of India’s leading airlines today,” he said.

Earlier this month, LTP inaugurated its new $30 million hangar located at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport complex in Pasay.

The new facility is capable of providing maintenance services for Airbus A380 planes, the biggest passenger planes in the world. The A380, manufactured by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. (EADS), can seat as many as 850 passengers.

With a fleet of 50 planes, IndiGo is the second largest budget airline in India with the second largest share of the subcontinent’s domestic travel, trailing behind Jet Airways.

IndiGo is also known to have placed one of the largest orders for planes in commercial aviation history during 2011, when Airbus won the $15-billion deal with the company for 180 aircraft.