Liebherr Aerospace and Max Aerospace Sign MRO Cooperation Agreement
Liebherr-Aerospace, a supplier of systems for the aviation industry, and Max Aerospace, an Indian maintenance organization based in Mumbai, announced the signature of a cooperation agreement covering repair and maintenance of components as well as maintenance and overhaul of heat exchangers.
Under the terms of the agreement, signed during Aero India 2019 in Bangalore, Liebherr-Aerospace renews an already existing repair license on Airbus components and supports Max Aerospace in developing industrial capabilities dedicated to heat exchangers manufactured by Liebherr for Airbus aircraft. Max Aerospace will thus join Liebherr-Aerospace’s worldwide network for heat exchanger maintenance.
“We see India to evolve as one of the world’s major aviation markets, including MRO activities. The partnership with Max Aerospace is key to support locally the Indian operators with Liebherr OEM quality, jointly with our office based in Bangalore and our Liebherr-Aerospace’s regional service center based in Singapore,” said Joël Cadaux, Director Business & Services — Customer Services, Liebherr-Aerospace & Transportation SAS.
“The coming together of both organizations brings world-class service for Liebherr components at the doorstep of aircraft operators in India and the surrounding region. We see this as an opportunity for establishing a firm and sustainable footprint for support of Liebherr components. Coupled with the encouraging growth in the aviation sector, we shall look to grow this partnership to include maintenance of many more Liebherr products,” said Bharat Malkani, Chairman and Director of Max Aerospace & Aviation Ltd.
New office for Liebherr-Aerospace in India in Bangalore
Liebherr-Aerospace recently inaugurated its new and bigger regional office at M.G. (Mahatma Gandhi) Road in Bangalore. The move had become necessary due to the company’s increase of activities and growth of the team on site.
The Liebherr-Aerospace team based in Bangalore is supporting Indian aircraft operators, manufacturers as well as suppliers and coordinates projects with the European-based OEM facilities Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH; Lindenberg (Germany); Liebherr’s center of excellence for flight control, actuation, gears, gearboxes and landing gear systems; and Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse SAS, Liebherr’s center of excellence for air management systems.
The office serves as a base for the various strategic steps of Liebherr-Aerospace in the Indian aerospace market.
“We are very pleased that we are progressing well with our plan to enlarge our footprint in India. Our growing team and this new office enable us to become a major player in India,” said Nicolas Bonleux, managing director and chief commercial officer, Liebherr-Aerospace and Transportation SAS, during the inauguration ceremony.
The company is investing in the continuous growth of its capabilities in order to support Indian customers who are operating existing fleets of for example Airbus, ATR, Embraer, Dornier and Dassault aircraft.
The company further plans to accelerate the development of its existing supply chain in India, where Liebherr-Aerospace purchases for example gearboxes and engineering services. In parallel, partnerships with Indian companies are being discussed regarding the transfer of some technologies that will enable the manufacturing of Liebherr-Aerospace parts in India.
Liebherr-Aerospace is already supplying and servicing many parts to aircraft built in India by HAL, such as heating and ventilation system components for the ALH helicopter, the cabin pressure control system for the Jaguar and the flap actuation system as well as landing gear actuators and the nose wheel steering system for the Do 228.
“We are starting the next phase of investment and making our local partners able to manufacture the parts. Our investment in India will grow very quickly in the coming years. We are speaking with a lot of suppliers. We currently have 10 suppliers in India. We use our Indian suppliers on all our global programs as well. Some of them serve as a single source for one family of products. We started by developing the supply chain in India for ten years. We got our first supplier eight years ago. The sourcing volumes are growing at more than five percent per year. We source bearings, gears, forgings and machined parts from here,” said Nicolas Bonleux, managing director and chief commercial officer, Liebherr-Aerospace and Transportation SAS.
“There are some technology parts that we want to keep in France and all the rest we will do in India. This is the target. We have a partner for the moment, but in the long term we should have our own facility. Our COO — his job is to develop opportunities world wide especially in India. It will depend very much on the next aircraft program in India. What products we will be selected for. That will drive the decision for the products that we will assemble in India,” said Nicolas Bonleux.
At Aero India 2019, Defsys Solutions (India) and Liebherr Aerospace (France) signed a strategic partnership agreement to jointly develop aerospace business in India. The company then did its first product delivery Fighter Aircraft Role Equipment.
“We are developing a supply chain in India. We are undertaking Make in India through Defsys. We are doing assembly of cooling units also for supplying to Rafale. Some the parts which are used on the Rafale will be assembled in India. We will transfer a part of these systems to India. The critical parts we will continue to manufacture in France. Non-critical parts , Defsys will get from here and then they will assemble. It will be progressive and iterative,” he added.
Liebherr-Aerospace is also offering innovative solutions to the Indian operators of foreign-built aircraft in terms of field service support, repair services and spare part availability, through its worldwide repair network.
The aircraft equipment manufacturer will also focus on proposing highly integrated and engineered products to the Indian air framers for their upcoming aircraft programs, for example in its product lines of air management systems, flight control and actuation systems, landing gear systems, gears and gearboxes, and electronics.
The Liebherr group’s aerospace revenue is 1.4 billion euros. India accounts for one percent of the revenue. The company’s product revenue from India stands at one percent while its service revenue is five percent.
Liebherr-Aerospace & Transportation SAS, Toulouse (France), is one of eleven divisional control companies within the Liebherr Group and coordinates all activities in the aerospace and transportation systems sectors. The range of aviation equipment produced by Liebherr for the civil and military sectors includes flight control and actuation systems, landing gear and air management systems, as well as gears, gearboxes and electronics. These systems are deployed in wide-bodied aircraft, single aisle and regional aircraft, business jets, combat aircraft, military transporters, military training aircraft, civil helicopters and combat helicopters.
Liebherr’s aerospace and transportation systems division employs around 5,400 people. It has four aviation equipment production plants at Lindenberg (Germany), Toulouse (France), Guaratinguetá (Brazil) and Nizhny Novgorod (Russia). These production sites offer a worldwide service with additional customer service centers in Saline (Michigan/USA), Seattle (Washington/USA), Montréal (Canada), Sao José dos Campos (Brazil), Hamburg (Germany), Moscow (Russia), Dubai (UAE), Bangalore (India), Singapore and Shanghai (People’s Republic of China).
