Revised check intervals to reduce airframe maintenance costs by up to six percent

Airbus’ A330/A340 aircraft Family has achieved a significant maintenance cost improvement due to the optimisation of scheduled maintenance programme intervals. These improvements comprise an extension of the ‘A-check’ interval from the existing 600 flight hours (FH) to 800 FH, as well as an extension of the Heavy Maintenance check interval from 10 to 12 years. The improvements have been incorporated in ‘revision 11’ of the A330 and A340 Maintenance Review Board Reports (MRBRs), which were recently approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Transport Canada. Furthermore, the A330 Maintenance Planning Document (MPD) revision 16 and A340 MPD revision 17 have been updated accordingly.

The benefits to operators are as follows: The A-check interval increase will result in a reduction from seven to five A-checks per year for a typical utilisation of 4,400 FH per year, thereby increasing aircraft availability. Meanwhile, the new 12-yearly Heavy-check interval will allow operators to synchronise the six-yearly Intermediate-check and 12-yearly Heavy-checks, leading to a reduction of one Heavy-check in the aircraft life.

“The revised intervals are an improvement which will potentially result in airframe maintenance cost savings of up to six percent – the equivalent of approximately US $1 million savings per aircraft over a 15 year period at present values,” says Frank Schreiber, Airbus Vice President Maintenance Programmes and Services.

Charles Champion, Executive Vice President Customer Services, adds: “This latest achievement clearly demonstrates Airbus’ on-going commitment to optimise the maintenance programmes, to further reduce overall direct maintenance costs, as well as contributing to eco-efficiency.”

Airbus’ modern aircraft family is designed for reliability, as well as efficient and cost-effective maintenance, with built-in features such as easy access and comprehensive trouble-shooting. It is supported by a network of spares, training and field service teams around the world.

Today more than 950 Airbus A330/A340 Family aircraft are in service worldwide, with 128 customers and operators.

Source: EADS