Gallery: An exclusive look inside Lufthansa Technik Sofia

In terms of labor costs, LTSF remains one of the most attractive facilities for MRO in Europe. Lower costs become relevant as a classical D-Check for an Airbus A320 or Boeing 737 needs up to 20,000 man-hours, meaning a downtime of the aircraft is between 25 to 40 days.

More than 90% of  employees in production areas are still male, but LTSF wants to increase the share of female workers.

High season for heavy base maintenance is between October until the end of March. During this period, Sofia will handle 120 aircraft MRO layovers.

Lufthansa Technik Sofia

A TUI Boeing 737-800 undergoes a heavy check in Sofia.

A TUI Boeing 737-800. Around 80 airlines have been LTSF customers. 

Passenger seats have been removed from an easyJet Airbus A320.

EasyJet is a regular customer at LTSF. “We are a manpowered business and there is barely any automatization. Fifty percent of the costs for aircraft heavy maintenance are labor costs. The level of automatization is still low. When you automize 10% to 20% from manual work processes, you reach direct cost benefits in the same amount,” CEO Torsten Raabe said.

LTSF can accommodate and service eight narrowbody aircraft for base maintenance simultaneously. The expansion of the facility, right in the picture, increased LTSF capacity by 40% from 5 to 8 aircraft bays.

A look inside the new hangar, three Eurowings Airbus A319/320s undergoes maintenance work.

A technician works on an Airbus engine.

Lufthansa LCC Eurowings use LTSF as its maintenance base. Here are three Airbus aircraft inside the new hangar.

Eurowings A320. LTSF said its costs are 3-4X lower compared to other locations.

Pilot seat undergoes maintenance.

A model of LTSF shows the entire MRO facility. The A320 and 737s are a huge part of the MRO market. LTSF will build up 320neo capability next year to handle the aircraft as the first relevant checks become necessary.