Kenya Airways (KQ), the East African country’s public-private partnership national flag carrier, has announced that it has signed a long-term contract, with Germany-based maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company Lufthansa Technik, for the supply of components for the airline’s fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners. KQ operates nine 787-8 models of the new-generation, predominantly composite airframe, widebody airliners, these comprising the entirety of its long-haul fleet.

“Due to increased demand in air travel, Kenya Airways embarked on a journey of returning to service aircraft that were parked during the [Covid-19] pandemic,” reported airline Group MD and CEO Allan Kilavuka. “This resulted in an increased demand for parts to make aircraft ready for flight. There has been a worldwide shortage of some raw materials negatively affecting some aircraft parts availability. Therefore, we are looking forward to working with Lufthansa Technik, to make us less dependent on the current global supply chain situation.”

The agreement embraces standard MRO and component supply activities as well as “Aircraft on Ground” support, including logistics services and the pooling of various parts. The close cooperation that the contract will enable will allow KQ to maximise the efficiency of its technical activities and assure that it benefits from the best possible availability of spare parts.

“With access to our worldwide network of material and parts pools, our valued customer will indeed be able to significantly mitigate uncertainties in the global aircraft parts supply chain,” assured Lufthansa Technik VP corporate sales Europe, Middle East and Africa Kai-Stefan Roepke. “We look forward to supporting Kenya Airways in the best possible way through our Total Component Support. This applies to the post-pandemic ramp-up phase as well as to the coming years of our cooperation.”

KQ currently operates services to 42 destinations around the world, 35 of which are in Africa. In addition to the 787-8s, it currently also operates Embraer E190 smaller-category single-aisle airliners.

Lufthansa Technik is one of the world’s leading MRO organisations, which is also licensed to design and produce components and to modify airframes, engines, landing gear and other parts. It employs more than 21 000 people, around the world.