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To accommodate newly awarded quick-turn services for Leap 1A engines, pictured at the manufacturing site near Paris, IAI is considering building a new engine shop at its Tel Aviv site, which would double capacity there.
Engine manufacturer CFM International has sought extra capacity for its Leap engine network as demand for quick-turn repairs and hospital shop visits climbs. In the past few years, several MRO providers with engine specializations have added Leap capabilities.
The latest to do so is Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) through its Tel Aviv-based Bedek Aviation Group’s Engines division. IAI recently gained FAA and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approval for quick-turn repair services for the Leap 1A, which powers Airbus A320neo-family aircraft.
Shmuel Kuzi, executive vice president of the Aviation Group at IAI, says it received a request to add Leap capability from Safran, one of the partners in the program alongside GE Aerospace. Kuzi believes adding Leap capability is a natural progression, given IAI’s experience on the Leap predecessor, the CFM56. Future long-term demand for the Leap is expected to be strong, despite some initial durability issues related to the engine’s fuel-nozzle coking system on both production and in-service engines. This has led to a spike in Leap shop visits as the OEM is rolling out fixes this year, aiming to improve the engine’s durability by installing a retrofittable external device called the reverse bleed system. “Issues with brand-new engines in the market are common, but these issues will be solved over time,” Kuzi says of the durability issues. To prepare for Leap quick-turn capability, Kuzi says IAI spent about 6-7 months investing in the necessary tooling, identifying the facilities required and sending engine technicians overseas to undergo the required Leap training.
Having already acquired regulatory licenses from the U.S. and Europe’s regulators, Kuzi expects the first Leap 1A engine induction by year-end. “By this time, we will be able to service more than one engine at a time because we will have the capacity and the human resources,” he says. He confirms that IAI is considering adding more capacity and slot availability for the forthcoming engine types. One possibility is a new engine shop on its existing site in Tel Aviv that would double its capacity for engine repairs. Kuzi estimates that IAI maintains about 200 engines annually now. He expects quick-turn services for the Leap 1B, the sole engine option for the Boeing 737 MAX, to follow either by year-end or in early 2025. “This certification will be a relatively smooth process once the first Leap 1A has been inducted,” Kuzi adds.
The first wave of Leap overhauls is still some years away, but IAI says it will prepare for this eventuality in the near future once it has further familiarized itself with the engine parts and repair processes. Kuzi says next year will be too early to ramp up to full overhaul capability, but he sees this as very likely within the next few years. The new capability will add to IAI’s existing narrowbody services consisting of a full scope of CFM56 and International Aero Engines V2500 engine repairs. In the past few years, as passenger traffic has picked up post-COVID-19, IAI has experienced a strong flow of work for these powerplants that has put its engine shop in Tel Aviv at full capacity, where it operates several engine lines in addition to seven test cells able to handle up to 70,000 lb. of thrust.
Given its existing V2500 capability, the company also expects to introduce quick-turn MRO services for its Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan successor engine for A320neo-family aircraft as soon as next year. Kuzi says this will occur only after quick-turn services for the Leap 1A and 1B variants are up and running, and that could take longer, depending on its ability to meet Leap time frames.
In addition to the narrowbody engines, IAI also services the PW4000—an engine option for multiple widebody aircraft, many of which are running today as powerplants for Boeing 747 and 767 variants mostly flying as cargo aircraft. Kuzi says he is surprised by the volume of demand for this particular engine type but identifies the cause as stemming from the relatively small number of repair providers for the engine type as cargo demand remains robust. “A lot of PW4000 specialists have closed these lines of maintenance, and suddenly there are not a lot of MRO providers for this engine,” he says. “But there is still a lot of demand.” Kuzi expects that IAI will conduct maintenance on the PW4000 for at least another five years.
IAI also conducts base maintenance services in Tel Aviv. Seventeen slots are divided between its base maintenance and passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion activities. Its airframe MRO services cover all Boeing commercial aircraft types as well as all Airbus aircraft except the A350 and A380. Identifying strong demand for aircraft C checks particularly, and the crossover with P2F work taking place in the same facilities, Kuzi says IAI is planning to build another “one, maybe two” hangars at the site close to Ben Gurion International Airport. He anticipates that construction of the extra hangars will be completed in the next two years. “We don’t have any other choice because all the slots are full,” he says of its dual base maintenance and P2F operation. “As we’ll also be doing P2F conversions on [Airbus] A330 and [Boeing] 777 aircraft, which could use as many as 100,000 labor hours, we will need the platforms and the structure to do all of this.”
In order to maximize capacity, particularly for its P2F operation, IAI has actively looked outside of Israel in the past few years by building up its partner network on P2F conversion programs. These partnerships include a cooperation with Etihad Engineering for 777-300ER P2F work in Abu Dhabi as well as in South Korea partnering with Sharp Technics K at Incheon International Airport for 777-200ER and 777-300ER P2F conversions. The South Korea operation is expected to start by year-end and will target the conversion of six aircraft annually.
IAI also has two U.S. operations: one in Marana, Arizona, with Ascent Aviation Services, and one in Cincinnati. The manufacturer expects the number of U.S. conversion lines to expand to six from four by next year, owing to strong demand. IAI also expects more P2F work to be carried out with Serbia-based Jat Tehnika. Having worked with the company previously on 767-300ER P2F projects, IAI is exploring the possibility of 777 work in Belgrade, depending on the need.
