Two months after Lufthansa entrusted maintenance for its Boeing 787 auxiliary power units (APU) to Epcor, a subsidiary of Air France-KLM, the rival airline group has reciprocated with a six-year contract for Lufthansa Technik to support the Honeywell HGT1700 APUs of Air France’s Airbus A350 fleet.

The Engine Yearbook’s APU Overhaul Directory indicates that Epcor and Lufthansa Technik offer competing MRO services across four APU types: the APS3200, the APS2300, the GTCP331-350 and the GTCP331-500—but obviously not the HGT1700 or the 787’s Pratt & Whitney Canada APS5000, for which their parent companies have swapped contracts.

Lufthansa Technik has long been certified by Honeywell as an official partner for MRO of the HGT1700 and as an official warranty station for this APU type.

Its services for Air France will include tests, repairs and overhauls, replacement of line replaceable units and life-limited parts, as well as AOG support and engineering services. 

Air France said it would retain full cost control as all these services—for labor and materials—will be billed on a ‘not-to-exceed’ basis.

In November, Lufthansa contracted Epcor to handle all warranty repairs on the APS5000 concerned and provide availability of units when needed.

Epcor is one of only three workshops in the world licensed to overhaul and repair the APS5000, and it claims that 40% of the units in service are supported from its Amsterdam shop.

The APS5000 differs from traditional APU architectures in that it doesn’t have a traditional load compressor, but sports two generators to support the extra electrical demands of the 787. 

For worldwide listings of every company’s APU capability, as well as global engine overhaul and repair directories, see Engine Yearbook 2023.