Irish company to maintain Boeing’s Dreamliners

Aircraft maintenance specialist Lufthansa Technik 's Irish operation expects to begin work on Boeing's 787 Dreamliner shortly after investing between €2 million and €3 million in its facilities.

The company is extending hangars at its Shannon base to allow it to maintain and repair large wide-body aircraft such as the Dreamliner.

From the autumn, Lufthansa will modify, repair and refurbish Boeing 737 cabins and interiors, paint the inside and outside of the craft and carry out other work such as compliance checks at the Co Clare facility.

While the company did not give an exact figure for the investment involved, it is understood to be between €2 million and €3 million. It also hopes that the extra work will result in it hiring more staff to add to its 485 workers.

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Specialist training

Staff are getting specialist training for the work. The 787, which is 68m long with a 60m wingspan, is one of the better known of the new generation of long-haul aircraft launched in recent years. Boeing has delivered 540 of them to airlines around the world has orders for 1,213 more.

Lufthansa Technik Shannon's chief executive, Pat Shine, described the development as good news.

He pointed out that the Republic has an excellent reputation aircraft maintenance and added that “with B787 capabilities, we have extended and grown our customer offering.”

Lufthansa Technik also plans to launch specialist aircraft maintenance trainee classes in the autumn. The company’s programmes regularly draw students from around the world.