In their joint effort to use additive manufacturing methods for a more cost-efficient aircraft spare parts production, Lufthansa Technik and Premium AEROTEC have reached an important milestone:
A metal component developed at Lufthansa Technik’s Additive Manufacturing (AM) centre for the IAE-V2500 engine’s anti-icing system has now received its official aviation certification from EASA. On this basis, Premium AEROTEC will produce the so-called “A-Link” for Lufthansa Technik at its Varel (Germany) site using a 3-D printer.
As part of this certification process, Lufthansa Technik has now extended the expertise of its EASA Part 21/J development facility to include additively manufactured metal components. For Premium AEROTEC, the cooperation with Lufthansa Technik is a significant milestone in the field of additive manufacturing, as it is the first time the company has supplied a customer outside the Airbus Group with printed series components. The first A-Links from the cooperation will be used in the Lufthansa fleet, where long-term experience with the new components is to be gained beyond certification.