Croatia Airlines and Lufthansa Technik celebrate 30 years of successful collaboration
Excellence achieved in the field of technical maintenance of aircraft by combining forces with know-how
16th May 2022, Zagreb – Croatia Airlines, Croatia’s flag carrier, and Lufthansa Technik, a world leader in the technical maintenance of aircraft, aircraft parts and engines, have today celebrated at Croatia Airlines’ office the 30th anniversary of successful business collaboration in the field of aircraft maintenance, that is, 30 years of excellence that they have been developing and advancing together. By the two brands having combined forces with the knowledge of their employees and their professional skills, these two companies have been successfully collaborating for 30 years in the field of aircraft maintenance and flight safety. Within the framework of this collaboration, Lufthansa Technik has continuously maintained aircraft parts and engines for Croatia Airlines’ fleet, while experts from the Technical Sector of Croatia Airlines have performed more than 210 major technical inspections on Deutsche Lufthansa aircraft. During the 30th anniversary celebration event, Jasmin Bajić, CEO and President of the Management Board of Croatia Airlines, highlighted the following:
– Our collaboration with Lufthansa Technik, a world leader in the technical maintenance of aircraft, aircraft parts and engines, coincided with Croatia Airlines’ acquisition of its fleet, and with our first international flight on the Zagreb-Frankfurt route in the spring of 1992. Over the past three decades, we have successfully collaborated and learned a lot, while taking care, at all times, of the safety of both our aircraft and our passengers. This has always been our number one priority. Thanks to the knowledge we have acquired from Lufthansa Technik’s top-class experts, our Technical Sector has become a centre of excellence, where some of the most demanding technical work is performed on the aircraft of foreign carriers and our own fleet. And our Technical Sector is recognised as a reliable partner worldwide.
Kai Röpke, Vice President Corporate Sales EUMEA at Lufthansa Technik AG, said: – The long-standing partnership between our companies is a prime example of successful international business and cooperation. Our common understanding of high-quality work, our flexible reaction to unexpected events, and our passion for delivering the best service are key to creating business growth and sustainable success together.
The collaboration between Croatia Airlines and Lufthansa Technik is founded on the principles of true partnership; in other words, on the transfer of in-depth knowledge, and expanding and improving that knowledge, and on the joint creation of new models for the provision of the service of the technical maintenance of aircraft, aircraft parts and engines.
It is worth recalling that, in 1992, Croatia Airlines purchased three Boeing 737-200 aircraft from Deutsche Lufthansa. At the same time, a Total Technical Support (TTS) contract was signed for the purchased aircraft. Collaboration with Lufthansa Technik has continued over the years by many contracts having been signed for the maintenance of aircraft parts of various types of aircraft in the fleet of Croatia Airlines (Airbus, Dash 8-Q400). Moreover, this collaboration has been continuously improved and expanded to achieve excellence.
The arrival of the first generation of Croatia Airlines’ inspectors at Shannon Aerospace in 2000 marked the beginning of the exchange of employees, which continued in the following years. In 2001, Croatia Airlines became the proud holder of a JAR 145 certificate authorisation, which allowed the company to independently perform base and line maintenance of aircraft of foreign carriers at its Technical Centre in Zagreb. In the same year, the first two C-checks were performed on Lufthansa’s Airbus A320 aircraft. The level and scope of services offered at the Technical Centre have been increasing over the years, and its in-house capacities for aircraft maintenance were increased on two occasions – first in 2008, and then in 2015. Activities did not come to a halt even during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, when contract addenda for the maintenance of aircraft parts were signed with Lufthansa Technik.