How Europe’s Engine Market Is Adapting For The Long Haul

Over the past few years, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and at the start of the new-generation commercial fleet ramp-up, Europe’s aftermarket landscape has gained capacity from engine specialists looking to meet growing demand for impending programs.

Much of this has been driven by engine manufacturers, particularly in the narrowbody segment, where the highest volume of orders is anticipated. Sector leaders discussed these matters and more at the Aviation Week Network’s recent AeroEngines Europe conference in Hamburg, Germany.

New-Gen Expansions

Safran Aircraft Engines, a partner in the CFM International Leap joint venture with GE Aerospace, is segregating the engine’s aftermarket from that of its CFM56 predecessor, said Christophe Poulain, vice president of commercial strategy at Safran Aircraft Engines. He estimated that about 40% of the active CFM56 fleet has yet to undergo a first shop visit. With some 9,000 Leap engines delivered and about 11,000 in the pipeline, both partners have embarked on network expansions to accommodate the expected volumes.

“There will be more and more shop visits to come, so we are organizing ourselves to make sure that on a worldwide basis, we are able to perform them,” Poulain said.

Safran has 18 licensed shops in its network, he noted, including six maintenance companies within its MRO Premier network launched last year. To bolster its network, the OEM has expanded capacity at shops in Belgium, France and Mexico while bolstering its supply chain through the acquisition of Component Repair Technologies, a U.S. engine part repair specialist.

Another MRO looking to invest further in its network is MTU Maintenance, the aftermarket unit of MTU Aero Engines. The MRO plans to expand its repair and test capabilities in Europe and globally for new engine programs, such as the Leap. Arne Luxa, senior director of sales for Europe, Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States at MTU Maintenance, said the company takes a global approach to engine shops rather than a more localized strategy in order to spread the necessary capacity across its network.

“If the shop gets too large, it gets too complex, and that complexity hurts the turnaround time,” he said. “We try to have at least two shops for each engine or portfolio to be able to spread capacity beyond Europe to Asia or the Americas.

“Generally, there will be a demand for additional shops in the future,” Luxa said. “This is because the peak of shop visits on the new engine generation will far exceed what the peak on engines like the CFM56-5B and -7B will be.”

TAP Maintenance & Engineering (TAP M&E), the maintenance division of TAP Air Portugal, is working toward Leap approval. The company plans to continue working closely with OEMs and other MROs to maintain its existing engine fleet while preparing for the transition to new models such as the Leap-1A, for which it plans to open MRO slots to the market this year.

TAP M&E gained certification for piece-part repairs, full overhaul and testing on the engine—one of the main choices for the Airbus A320neo—along with European Union Aviation Safety Agency, FAA and UK Civil Aviation Authority approvals. In addition, the company has upgraded the test cell at its engine facility in Lisbon, where it also services CFM56-3, -5A, -5B, -5C and -7B as well as GE CF6-80C2/A/B and -80E1 engines.

Filipe Morais de Almeida, vice president of marketing and sales at TAP M&E, said among the primary challenges the division faces are access to labor and the shortfall of experienced labor after the pandemic. Given existing geopolitical factors, he said he expects smaller, more localized MRO engine ventures to emerge.

“This will be a wise decision because we are facing uncertain times, and I don’t see any improvement on that near-term,” he said. “I expect the development of joint ventures on small footprints will increase.”

Hong Kong-headquartered HAECO operates two engine MRO facilities in Europe in London and Amsterdam through its HAECO Global Engine Support business. Jamie Moran, head of Global Engine Support for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the MRO plans to continue investing in capabilities, facilities and technical recruitment to enable flexible and efficient engine support.

Balancing Engine Fleets

With 2028 forecast as the inflection point for current- and new-generation engines for the narrowbody segment, many airlines are still maximizing existing assets. This has resulted in older engines staying in fleets longer, leading to heavier workscope demands on MRO providers.

Some carriers are revising engine life-cycle strategies on a model-by-model basis. Air Canada is phasing out CFM56-5A engines but extending the life of CFM56-5Bs through strategic maintenance, said Philip Lee, general manager of engine maintenance.

“We’re not really going to be doing any more shop visits on that fleet,” Lee said of Air Canada’s CFM56-5A engines. “We will be harvesting good engines from exiting aircraft, and those good engines will then serve for the wind-down to be active as spare engines.”

As for the CFM56-5B, Lee said the airline has adopted several strategies to increase time on wing. “We’ll take an engine fresh out of the shop and install it on the high-thrust [Airbus] A321s, and when that [exhaust gas temperature] margin is pretty much down to zero, we will then remove it, down-thrust it, and then install it onto the lower thrust,” he said. “That effectively gives us a second run on the engine.”

Lee added that Air Canada also focuses on doing module maintenance on wing, with the replacements helping keep powerplants on wing longer. He explained that once the engines eventually go into the shop, the carrier deploys mobile engine services on the CFM56-5B through a partnership with Lufthansa Technik. Air Canada is also considering engine core replacements as an alternative to straight repairs.

Derrick Siebert, vice president of the engine services operation at Lufthansa Technik, said the CFM56-A and -5C are increasingly leaving the market, but operators prefer to extend the lives of their CFM56-5B and -7B engines, both of which he predicts have many more major shop visits to come.

“They’re looking for end-of-life solutions and are trying to avoid big overhauls and instead looking at smarter workscoping,” he said. Referencing the Air Canada partnership, Siebert added: “We have come up with smart solutions in order to prevent overhauls, taking modules on wing or in the vicinity in one of our mobile stations.”

“I think it’s really operator-specific,” said Bo Lump, senior vice president of business development at Swiss MRO provider SR Technics, which focuses on CFM56-5B and -7B; Leap-1A and -1B; and Pratt & Whitney PW4000-94, -100 and geared turbofan engines. “We will continue to see heavy maintenance on CFM56 engines, but at the same time I think some of the more mature operators are starting to look at end-of-life solutions.”

SR Technics is adding a new facility in Zurzach, Switzerland, close to the border with Germany, for light shop visits and module swaps to alleviate capacity on its heavy engine maintenance shop in Zurich.

The simultaneous production and aftermarket ramp-up of new-generation engines is causing conundrums for operators. “Do [airlines] breathe life into those engines to continue?” Lump said. “When are they going to get their new engines and aircraft, and how can they forecast that specifically? We see a lot of airlines that are still going through that process right now and trying to determine [whether to] put the maintenance into it—or [to] tactically work on these engines specifically to just get through a certain period.”

The panel cited a shortage of high-pressure turbine blades for the CFM56 family as a major material constraint. They also said they expect an increased volume of used serviceable material (USM) to enter the market in 3-5 years, when a higher volume of assets is phased out and torn down.

“There is a shortage of USM, so we have to tear down ourselves to generate our own USM, because the market is really not responsive enough according to our whole demands,” Siebert said. “As soon as we have the deliveries of aircraft and further engines and the creation of a mature, reliable state of the market, then definitely. This maybe won’t be the tsunami that was predicted but will hopefully lead to increased availability of USM.”