The Trent 1000 will be the fifth engine type serviced by N3.
N3 Engine Overhaul Services has gained authorization from Germany’s aviation regulator to repair and overhaul Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 TEN engines.
The Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA) confirmed the Part 145 approval for the Trent 1000 on Dec. 8, marking the company’s first entry into servicing engines for Boeing aircraft.
The certification from the LBA makes the Trent 1000 the fifth engine serviced by N3. Previously, N3 only maintained engine models for Airbus aircraft, comprised of Trent 500, Trent 700, Trent 900 and Trent XWB engine types.
The Trent 1000 is one of two options for the 787 along with the rival GEnx.
N3 says that the new approval will its efforts to service growing demand for maintenance services for Rolls-Royce Trent engines while also providing the basis for further expansion projects at facility in Thuringian, located in the municipality of Arnstadt in central Germany.
Plans include expanding the site’s factory building and the construction of a logistics centre on the company premises, with work expected to be starting in the second half of 2023. N3 also intends to further grow its workforce having added more than 100 new staff in 2022. The company says its staff of around 800 people will eventually surpass 1,000 in the coming years.
Carsten Behrens, one of N3’s co-managing directors who represents the Rolls-Royce side of the 50-50 partnership, says: “With the operating license for the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 TEN engine, we are securing our future by expanding and increasing our capacities. As a result, we will be able to react with greater flexibility to future maintenance and repair demand concerning Rolls-Royce Trent engines…”
The engine MRO provider expects service capacity to increase from the current 160 engines per year to at least 250 engines annually in the coming years as passengers travel picks up post-COVID-19.
Stefan Landes, who represents the Lufthansa Technik side of the business as managing director, adds: “This global crisis has cemented the resilience and strength of our company and that of our employees. With this experience behind us, we are facing up to the ambitious goals and challenges of the coming years,”
Set up as a joint venture between Rolls-Royce and Lufthansa Technik in 2007, N3 has overhauled more than 1,400 engines in the 15 years since establishing the operation.
