Fast 5: Austrian Technik Bratislava Navigates MRO Challenges For Regional Aircraft

Wolfgang Henle, CEO of Austrian Technik Bratislava, tells Aviation Week about challenges and possibilities for its regional aircraft MRO business.

Which airline clients is ATB supporting?

Austrian Airlines, SWISS, Portugalia and Alliance Air of Australia are the major ones. ATB also has Australian and Canadian licenses, in addition to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. The big challenge for us is the summer, where every European airline needs their aircraft, and the same is true for Australia but their winter is our summer. We have maintained Australian Fokker 100s and Embraer 190s for many years. But the long-distance positioning flight makes the business model unsustainable in the long run. Presently we support Alliance Air in setting up an Embraer MRO base at Rockhampton Airport in Queensland, Australia.

What are ATB’s growth plans?

We plan to grow from the current four to six maintenance lines. We want to concentrate more on the Airbus A220. We see that there are very few MRO provider for the A220 on the market and presently we are arguably the European market leader for A220 base maintenance. So far, there have been maybe seven or eight major checks made around the world, and we have done most of them. The new maintenance lines should be ready for use in winter 2025/26. We are looking to add a hundred additional employees by 2025.

Why are there are not more MRO providers currently supporting Airbus A220s?

In my opinion this is due to the general situation the MROs are facing. There is presently not enough MRO capacity available worldwide. Thus, many MROs are reluctant to invest in another fleet when they are struggling to fulfill their customers’ demand on other fleets. The problem is even more pronounced for regional aircraft. MROs which maintain regional and standard single aisle aircraft, like the A320 or Boeing 737, are reluctant to reduce their A320 or 737 lines if they are lacking staff. So, if there is a reduction of maintenance slots due to lack of staff, the regional aircraft tend to lose those slots first. For us, however, regional is the core business. The A220 is certainly attractive because there will be more in the future. The A220 is a challenging model for heavy maintenance.

ATB also has the De Havilland Canada Dash 8 Q400 in its MRO portfolio. Will you service this aircraft in the future?

The Q400 should be an important aircraft for Europe. Over the short distances typical for Europe, [the Q400] uses half the fuel of a comparable jet with nearly the same speed. It is a sad story that so many aircraft are just stored and not operated. I give the plane a great chance, though. We invested a lot and still keep a two-line capacity for the  Q400. In Europe we are the only MRO offering the 40K check—a heavy maintenance due after 40,000 landings.

What impacts are you seeing from the Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan metal powder situation?

As we know from our customers, the metal powder problem could affect all Pratt & Whitney engines series 1100, 1400 and 1900, to remove the engine from the wing every 3,800-5,000 flight hours straight into the engine shop. As this comes true, many aircraft will be grounded because there is not enough engine MRO capacity for such a demand. Suddenly there are plans to fly older aircraft that an airline actually wanted to retire. This makes it extremely complex for maintenance and therefore creates more pressure on the MRO provider. For example, the Airbus A319 is very popular again, simply because it flies. Many of my customers are concerned and we are trying to adapt to this new situation as much as possible. It's a paradigm shift for aviation. We will see the fallout for operators and MROs in the coming year. Such changes will be drastic.