The Middle East Propulsion Company (MEPC) has opened a new maintenance facility at King Khalid international airport.

Low-cost carriers and charter operators in Central Europe face stiff competition, among themselves and from state carriers that “run on an emotional basis and are treated like they will go on forever,” says Sandor Szomora, deputy chief executive of Lufthansa Technik Budapest. Szomora, who worked for a Malev Hungarian Airlines joint venture before joining LHT, says these state carriers often are “not nimble or adaptive.”

Jet Aviation Dubai is to expand its service offerings to include interior refurbishment.

DCI has announced a three-year extension of its contract to maintain the Kuwait Air Force's (KAF) 28 helicopters.

Emirates is preparing for negotiations with Airbus about compensation

Lufthansa Technik wants to perform Airbus A380 wing repairs for other A380 operators. Lufthansa executive board member Carsten Spohr speaking at the International Air Transport Association’s annual general meeting in Beijing says that maintenance, repair and overhaul subsidiary Lufthansa Technik is making detailed plans for the repairs.

Airlines may have to ground their Airbus A380s for 60 days to repair their wings, two A380 operators tell Aviation Week on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association’s annual general meeting this week in Beijing. Emirates Airline President Tim Clark says that a total of about 30,000 man hours are required to make the fix developed by Airbus, and that the work will be performed by Airbus because Emirates does not have the manpower to handle the task. The repair is needed because of cracks found in wing rib feet.

Garuda Indonesia’s maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) division, GMF AeroAsia, is set to become an authorized service center for Bombardier CRJ regional jets. The Indonesian state-owned carrier currently has no Bombardier aircraft in its fleet, but it recently ordered six CRJ1000s. Now GMF AeroAsia’s VP-sales and marketing, Jemsly Hutabarat, says the MRO provider and the airframer have signed a letter of intent that could result in GMF performing line and heavy maintenance on CRJ 200/700/900/1000 aircraft for Garuda and third-party customers.