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28.11.19 10 INTERVIEW 'We remain the top brand and Marcus Motschenbacher has been Luhansa Technik Malta's CEO since September 2016. BusinessToday met up with him to discuss the company's upcoming investments in Malta, the success of its local operation and prospects for the future MASSIMO COSTA Lufthansa Technik Malta has just announced it will be investing €25 million in a new hangar in Hal Farrug. What kind of aircraft will be serviced in the new hangar and what kind of services will be carried out? e new hangar will allow us to work on four wide-body aircraft (which fly transatlantic routes), together with five narrow-body aircraft (which fly conti- nental routes). erefore, in total, we will be able to work on nine planes si- multaneously. At the moment, we can work on six aircraft at the same time, so we will effectively have the capacity to work on an additional three planes with the new hangar. e new hangar will also give us the opportunity to re-design our oper- ations. At the moment we have two hangars at two different locations which are opposite each other, where we work on four aircraft in one hangar, and two in the other. With the new hangar, the setup will change, and we will be able to work on nine planes – four wide-body and five-narrow body – in the same building In terms of the services offered, these are wide ranging. ey start from rel- atively minor checks of five to fifteen days in duration, known as C checks, to heavy checks, which last up to 40 or 50 days, and are referred to as D checks. C checks take place every two years, while the heavy checks are carried out on six to twelve-year intervals. We will moreover be carrying out cab- in modifications for airlines that request renovations, such as new cabin layouts, rearranging seats, galleys, toilets, and so on. We also put in place technologi- cal modifications, such as adding Wi-Fi or other electronic innovations to air- craft. All the aircraft we will service will be Airbus models, including the A350 and the A320Neo. With this latest investment, it is obvious Lufthansa Technik is comfortable – and satisfied – with its operations in Malta. Is this also your opinion? And why? What is attractive about the Maltese jurisdiction? Lufthansa Technik is happy. We are doing a very good job in Malta, and 2019 was a highlight in this regard. Our Malta operation has registered a year- on-year increase in success in the last three years, which is definitely a good sign. Personally, I'm also very happy with the company and its performance, especially because we've become more efficient by 20% over the past five years and have increased our workload by al- most the same margin. e biggest factor which makes the Maltese jurisdiction attractive is the ability to have quick access to decision makers, be it Malta Enterprise, Malta Industrial Parks or the respective min- istries – the Tourism, Transport and Economy ministries – all three of which are always helpful. ere are also other factors which make Malta a good destination for our operations, such as the degree of gener- al expertise in aircraft maintenance and repair, its continental legal system, and the fact English is spoken as a first lan- guage on the island. e country offers a stable environ- ment and its geographical location is very central. Predominantly, our work- load comes from Lufthansa the UK and continental Europe, but there is also an increasing reach into Africa and the Middle East, which puts Malta in a good position. However, I should note that aircraft are very flexible, and, once they are in the air, if they need to go to a mainte- nance centre they can easily divert to another location that offers the same or similar services. erefore, Malta's lo- cation on the map shouldn't be seen as a comfort because there is no domestic airline market which is exclusive to the island other than Air Malta, which is an important shareholder. But this is only a small part of our business – the major part is imported from abroad, and these aircraft can fly to other locations to receive maintenance services. is is why it's important that Malta ensures that within the network of all competing companies within the group and beyond it, it retains its num- ber one position by remaining compet- itive.

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