Twenty years of MTU Maintenance Zhuhai

MTU Maintenance Zhuhai, a 50/50 joint venture between MTU Aero Engines and China Southern Airlines Company Limited, marks 20 years since the company was founded. Over the past two decades, the facility has completed over 3,000 engines and grown from a greenfield facility to become the largest engine shop in Asia by shop visits.

“We are extremely proud of all that the facility has achieved,” says Li Tongbin, Chairman of the Board of MTU Maintenance Zhuhai and Vice President & Chief Engineer of China Southern Airlines. “Our thanks go out to all our shareholders, business partners, valued customers and over 1,000 highly trained employees, without whom none of this success would have been possible.”

The Asian region is now the largest in the world when it comes to shop visit volumes and is largely expected to be one of the first to recover post pandemic. “We made the strategic decision to found MTU Maintenance Zhuhai to serve the growing Asian market and are delighted with the exceptional success the facility has experienced,” adds Michael Schreyögg, Chief Program Officer MTU Aero Engines and Vice Chairman of the board, MTU Maintenance Zhuhai.

Servicing CFM56, LEAP, V2500 and soon PW1100G-JM engines, MTU Maintenance Zhuhai has been expanded twice to accommodate demand and now has a capacity of 450 engines per year. This will increase to 700 in 2024, when an additional facility in the neighbouring Jinwan district has been constructed. “Thanks to our timely entry into the market and reputation for highly customized and cost-efficient engine solutions, we are extremely confident in MTU Maintenance Zhuhai’s position as largest engine MRO in China and in turn, its future growth trajectory,” Schreyögg adds. 

Throughout 2021 and into the next decade, MTU Maintenance Zhuhai will also be investing a training center to accommodate its growing workforce needs. Due for completion in 2022, the center will train 50 to 100 Chinese engineering graduates in aircraft engine mechanics per year. “Furthermore, we will also continue to invest in our on-site team and capabilities,” adds Jaap Beijer, President and CEO, MTU Maintenance Zhuhai. “We carried out the largest number of on-site services events within the MTU Maintenance network in 2020, despite the crisis. And we added a number of workscopes to our portfolio, such as LEAP-1B end-of-lease checks, V2500 fan rotor and CFM56-7B fan containment case replacements. We will build on this foundation in 2021.”

Located in Zhuhai's free trade zone, MTU Maintenance Zhuhai benefits from its proximity to Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Macao. The facility boasts advanced machinery and performs 80 percent of parts repairs in-house. In addition to China Southern, MTU Maintenance Zhuhai serves over 70 customers from China, Asia and around the world, including International Aero Engines, Saudia Airlines and All Nippon Airways, as well as Chinese Shenzhen Airlines, Xiamen Airlines and Sichuan Airlines. Its dedicated service teams can be dispatched to the customers in the region in no time.