Gallery: Coronavirus’ Global Impact On MRO

Credit: MROs Warned To Expect A Raft Of Order Cancellations

Lee Ann Shay/Aviation WeekAviation Week's Lee Ann Shay reports that airlines are drastically cutting their passenger flights in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Credit Suisse estimates airlines could slash available seat kilometers by 70% in the second quarter of 2020.

Lufthansa Technik Sees Immediate COVID-19 Impact

Credit: Lufthansa TechnikLufthansa Technik says that the extent of the effects of the COVID-19-driven aviation crisis on the company cannot yet be concretely foreseen but states the immediate impact has already been largescale. As of this week, Lufthansa Technik’s global network, which spans Europe, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and North America, is operating at what it describes as a stable level.

AFI KLM E&M Assessing Situation

Credit: AFI KLM E&MThe MRO says it is doing its best to maintain the operations of customers but is assessing the ever-changing situation on a daily basis. Its shops in France and the Netherlands are still running as of March 2020.

AlitaliaThe airline has been gradually bringing more maintenance work in-house.

MTU Maintenance To Halt German Operations Next Month

MTU Maintenance will temporarily suspend its MRO operations in Hannover and Berlin in early April in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The shutdown at its Hannover and Berlin engine shops will last for approximately three weeks.

HAECO Redeploys Line Staff, Activates Contingency Plan

Credit: HAECOWith many line stations in China including Wuhan, HAECO activated a contingency plan in January. This included implementing a series of measures including temperature checks for all employees and customers, increased personal hygiene standards, more stringent operating procedures, protective gear where required, enhanced cleaning of public areas and facilities, declaration by individuals of their travel history and self-quarantining of individuals where appropriate. It also redeployed line maintenance technicians from China to other parts of its operation due to the drop in maintenance demand.

Etihad Airways Engineering Continues Some Shop Work But With Adjustments

Credit: Etihad AirwaysEtihad Airways Engineering says it had a good flow of work in its shops before the coronavirus outbreak, but nevertheless, has had to adjust its setup. This has included a sizeable number of its staff working from home.

Coronavirus Delays Airbus-Thai Airways U-Tapao JV Bid

AirbusThe proposed bidding for the Airbus-Thai Airways U-Tapao MRO joint venture has been postponed until April after the airframe OEM failed to submit its proposal, which local media attributed to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Chinese MRO Operations Resume

Credit: Hangxin Aviation ServicesHaving recorded the first outbreak of COVID-19 virus in January, the impact on China's MRO industry preceded that of the rest of the world. However, encouragingly for the west, many of China's MRO facilities resumed operations the following month. These included Hangxin Aviation Services, which resumed around 90% of MRO capacity by mid-February.

GMF AeroAsia Sees Uptick In MRO Demand

GMF AeroAsiaWhile MRO in China has gradually recovered, the past few months have made it difficult for non-Chinese airlines to gain access to the country. This has led to a surge in demand for maintenance providers in neighboring countries such as GMF AeroAsia of Indonesia.