New Cooperations Across a Multitude of Fields: Etihad Airways and Lufthansa Technik Form Strategic MRO Partnership

November 18, 2025

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, and Lufthansa Technik have today elevated their long-standing business relation to a strategic Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) partnership with new cooperations across multiple fields. Various contracts signed at the Dubai Airshow encompass comprehensive component support, landing gear maintenance, aircraft production inspections, engineering and digital services for a broad range of Airbus and Boeing aircraft types.

In line with a long-term Total Component Support (TCS), Etihad’s entire fleet of Airbus A320 family aircraft will benefit from direct access to Lufthansa Technik’s global spare parts pool. This will enable the airline to increase the availability of frequently needed aircraft components, leading to considerable cost advantages for its A320s, A321s, A320neos, A321neos and A321LRs. This agreement not only covers general component MRO services, but also a 24/7 support for AOG (Aircraft On Ground) cases and a dedicated on-site customer service manager at the airline’s hub at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport.

Over the coming five years, the undercarriages of Etihad’s Airbus A380 fleet will receive comprehensive maintenance at Lufthansa Technik Landing Gear Services UK. The highly specialised workshop near London will service the main landing gear shipsets for the airline’s superjumbos to maintain them in perfect condition. Afterwards, they will be returned to Etihad’s MRO facilities in Abu Dhabi for reinstallation into the aircraft.

Through the company’s Aircraft Production Inspection Program (APIP), experts from Lufthansa Technik will also be providing production oversight for Etihad’s latest 787 deliveries being built at Boeing’s facility in Charleston, USA. Moreover utilizing its EASA Part 21-J Design Organization approval, Lufthansa Technik will also support Etihad’s technical operations with comprehensive engineering services, such as approvals for certain part changes or repairs.

Finally, Etihad has become the launch customer for AVIATAR’s APU & Cabin Temperature Monitoring. Developed in collaboration with FlightWatching (a Revima Group Company), it currently marks the only digital MRO application worldwide for Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) usage and cabin temperature monitoring. Providing the airline a real-time overview of APU and ground-based power provisioning for its aircraft, the AVIATAR module enables a precise prediction of cabin cooling times and helps Etihad to optimize its APU usage for fleet-wide fuel-saving purposes.

“This partnership with Lufthansa Technik represents a significant milestone in ensuring the highest levels of fleet readiness, operational availability, and resilience across our fleet,” said Captain Majed Al Marzouqi, Etihad’s Chief Operations and Guest Officer. “Innovation is part of our DNA at Etihad, and by combining Lufthansa Technik's world-class MRO expertise with advanced digital capabilities, we will enhance operational efficiency, improve reliability, and reinforce our unwavering commitment to continue to enhance safety and reliability for our guests and operations.”

“Etihad has ever-since been a valued partner for us, and especially a very strong supporter in our endeavor to completely transform technical aircraft operations with innovative digital services,” said Dr. Christian Leifeld, Chief Financial Officer at Lufthansa Technik. “Therefore, we are beyond proud to further intensify this cooperation and jointly elevate it to a much more strategic partnership, for both classic MRO services and, even more so, for the fast-evolving digital playing field.”

Before this most-recent expansion of their cooperation, Etihad and Lufthansa Technik had already partnered on a variety of MRO services. The past spectrum, for example, ranged from landing gear maintenance for the airline’s Boeing 777 fleet to an ad-hoc support for composite part repairs (Airframe Related Components) fulfilled locally by the MRO provider’s Dubai-based subsidiary Lufthansa Technik Middle East. With its modern and diverse fleet and its innovative mindset, Etihad has moreover assumed a pioneering role in exploring digital MRO solutions from Lufthansa Technik’s AVIATAR suite, such as Condition Monitoring and Predictive Health Analytics.

Source : Lufthansa Technik