The recovery of long-haul markets through 2023 has provided a major boost for certain widebody types that were grounded through the pandemic and, as a result, their maintenance markets.
Last month, for example, Turkish Technic agreed to a heavy maintenance deal with Swiss covering seven of the Lufthansa Group carrier’s Airbus A330-300s, with work to be performed from November 2023 and over the subsequent months.
Next year, there will be more than 650 A330-300 variants in service around the world, according to Aviation Week Network’s 2024 Commercial Fleet & MRO Forecast. This is roughly 50% higher than in 2020, although the fleet is not expected to reach again the pre-pandemic highs of around 700 aircraft.
Commenting on the agreement with Turkish Technic, Claus Bauer, vice president of technical fleet management at Swiss, said: “Swiss is to explore the key strategic partners for MRO in the years to come. Turkish Airlines, with its big A330 fleet, is experienced with the product and we expect competitive performance.”
Numbers of the A330-200, meanwhile, dropped from roughly 500 to 300 at the start of the pandemic, and are expected to recover to a maximum of around 430 in-service units in 2024 and 2025.
Retirements of both models are expected to pick up toward the end of the decade at about 70 aircraft per year in 2028, 2029 and 2030, Aviation Week data shows.
Over the next 10 years, maintenance demand for the A330-200/-300 will fall steadily from a high of $10.9 billion in 2025 to $6.3 billion by 2033.
A big chunk of that demand is accounted for by the Rolls-Royce Trent 700—the most popular engine choice for the A330.
In 2024, the Trent 700 is expected to provide the second biggest widebody engine maintenance market. Aviation Week predicts the GE90 will account for $5.6 billion, the Trent 700 for $4.5 billion, and the CF6 and GEnx for $3.3 billion each. By 2033, the GE90 and GEnx will command the biggest widebody engine maintenance markets at $6.5 billion each, followed by the Trent XWB at $4.3 billion.
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