EASA (the European Union Aviation Safety Agency) has authorised Lufthansa Technik (LHT) to grant Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) for cabin conversions on the Airbus A320ceo family under Design Organisation Approval.
LHT can now independently approve alterations classed as ‘major changes’ to A320ceo aircraft within a clearly defined scope.
The award of the ‘Certain STC Privilege’ was granted following a detailed inspection of LHT’s internal Design Assurance System (DAS), staff resources, and procedures. The inspections, which included an on-site audit, indicated that EASA could have confidence in Lufthansa Technik delivering a reliably high level of quality in maintaining customers’ aircraft, of which there are more than 5,100.
The ‘Certain STC Privilege’ applies to recurring engineering solutions for which LHT, as a Design Organisation, has already obtained STCs on a regular basis and demonstrated its ability to manage similarity of design and repetitiveness of certification within an agreed and continuously monitored framework.
“The privilege allows us to clearly differentiate between routine projects we can handle independently and those requiring close EASA involvement,” explained Dr Uwe Schueler, VP Design Organisation at Lufthansa Technik. “We expect certification cost savings of up to 20%.”
The scope of the privilege allows LHT to approve recurring cabin layout changes in A320ceo family aircraft without individual EASA approval, such as seating reconfigurations, the relocation of galleys or lavatories, or the repositioning of cabin class dividers. This autonomy will substantially cut the time required for cabin conversions, reduce the number of stakeholders involved, minimise idle time, and lower project risks and costs.
“After a long period of trustful cooperation with Lufthansa Technik, we are confident in granting the ‘Certain STC Privilege’. Now we have another Design Organisation on board to gain experience in approving major changes”, stated Alain Leroy, acting certification director at EASA.
“Our design engineers already have a range of recurring major changes in mind for which we can apply Certain STC Privilege to further streamline our processes and services,” added Harald Gloy, COO of Lufthansa Technik.
