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• The services arm of the OEM supports airline clients in keeping their fleets in prime condition
AIRBUS
IN MID-OCTOBER, Airbus provided a comprehensive update for its services division. The customer-support and training arm of the European aircraft manufacturer has been hit hard by the pandemic, but Klaus Roewe, head of customer services, remained upbeat, noting “there is a lot of good in the bad, especially digitalisation.”
Airbus Services has four business clusters – operations, maintenance, training and enhancements – the ‘bad’ was primarily due to a 60% drop in passengers, from 4.5 billion in 2019 to 1.8 billion in 2020 (although an IATA forecast published in August predicted a 33% increase by the end of 2021, to 2.4 billion). This, in turn, contributed towards maintenance revenues dropping by 40%, flight simulator usage by half, and upgrades by two-thirds.