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George Moeritz
Dresden. An Airbus A 380, the world's largest passenger aircraft with seats on two floors, will take off from Dresden again this year. EFW Elbe Flugzeugwerke in Dresden announced on Monday that it had won a new customer and was thus re-entering the market for servicing the giant aircraft. The double-decker aircraft have a wingspan of almost 80 meters.
Operations at Dresden Airport will be preparing the Airbus with the registration 9H-GLOBL for commercial service in the coming quarter. EFW Managing Director Jordi Boto said that a contract had been signed with new customer Global Airlines for this purpose. He is now expecting a growing demand for maintenance orders for the Airbus A 380. The double-decker is experiencing a comeback with many airlines.
The Saxon company is one of the few in the world with experience in the maintenance and repair of large passenger aircraft. Boto said that Flugzeugwerke had already carried out a good 50 maintenance jobs or cabin conversions on the A 380. After years of experience, it is now possible to resume such work. In December, an A 380 belonging to the Australian airline Quantas took off after maintenance in Dresden, albeit with a delay due to technical difficulties.
The new EFW customer Global Airlines was only officially founded last year and is based in London. Company boss James Asqhith announced that he would be coming to Dresden to view the work. He said he was looking forward to seeing his company's first aircraft fly to Dresden. According to online trade media, the aircraft was previously in service for China Southern Airlines and recently underwent maintenance work in Glasgow-Prestwich.
Global Airlines wants to buy more aircraft
According to the joint press release with EFW, Global Airlines has a program to expand its fleet, owns one Airbus A 380 aircraft outright and now wants to buy more. On the Website of the company There is talk of a plan for a total of four aircraft of this type, with around 471 seats. The company's first passenger flight is scheduled to take place next year. Asquith said that Global Airlines had overcome major hurdles over the past twelve months. According to reports, the launch plans have been postponed several times.
Elbe Flugzeugwerke is Dresden's third largest industrial company, after the microchip factories of the Infineon and Globalfoundries groups. EFW reported a turnover of around 600 million euros last year. The company employs around 2,000 people, some of whom work at the subsidiary Acosa in Kodersdorf near Görlitz. The company converts long-serving passenger aircraft into cargo planes, for example by removing seats, inserting false floors and closing window openings.
The company produces components such as floor panels, side panels, partition walls, cockpit doors, toilets and crew bunks. In addition to Airbus aircraft, EFW also maintains NH-90 helicopters for the German Armed Forces. Elbe Flugzeugwerke is a joint venture owned by Airbus and ST Engineering in Singapore. In February, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) visited EFW in Dresden and was given a model aircraft - albeit the smaller A 330.
