Airfoil Services Sdn. Bhd. (ASSB), a 50:50 joint venture between MTU Aero Engines AG and Lufthansa Technik AG, celebrates 20 years of experience in airfoil repairs – and successful cooperation of the two aviation MRO leaders.

For two decades, ASSB has sustained its position as the world-class leading provider of innovative high-tech airfoil solutions, powered by the collaboration of its two shareholders. As of 2003, MTU Aero Engines and Lufthansa Technik teamed up as equal partners in the Malaysia-based joint venture – underlining their commitment to strengthening synergies and creating economies of scale.

“With ASSB, Lufthansa Technik and MTU Aero Engines have combined their technical competencies in a completely complementary way and laid the ground for jointly broadening repair capabilities and growing the business,” says Dominik Giugno, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at ASSB. The company is specialized in airfoil repairs for high-pressure compressors and low-pressure turbines using state-of-the-art processes. The portfolio contains all major civil aircraft engine types – including CFM International’s CFM56, GE Aviation’s CF6-80C2, and International Aero Engines’ V2500. ASSB has benefited from its many years of expertise also in the introduction of high-quality services for the latest engine types, such as Pratt & Whitney’s PW1000G engine family, Rolls-Royce's Trent 1000, 7000 and XWB as well as Engine Alliance’s GP7000.

“We are extremely proud of our technological strength and eager to extend our portfolio even further”, Holger Rosemann, Chief Operating Officer at ASSB, adds: “The strong cooperation between Lufthansa Technik and MTU Aero Engines has proven to be a success factor for both partners. ASSB is progressing very well towards the future, and we are ready for further growth in the upcoming years.” The company repairs about 500,000 engine parts per year for about 100 customers worldwide. In March 2023, the mark of 7,000,000 parts delivered in total was surpassed.

In the last 20 years, ASSB increased its capabilities and business considerably. Accordingly, the center of excellence for the repair of airfoils continuously introduced new repair technologies, such as high-velocity oxygen fuel erosion coating, a thermal process to apply erosion coating and automated adaptive leading edge re-contouring. In addition, airfoil repair capabilities for adaptive milling and automated welding for e.g. CFM56 tech insertion parts enrich the company’s portfolio. In order to boost the operations and provide additional job opportunities, ASSB almost doubled its production space and completed a 5,200 square meters expansion of its facility in 2019. Today, the joint venture counts more than 500 highly-skilled employees. Furthermore, ASSB is in the process of further expanding its portfolio through repair development projects for new generation airfoils.