This year began with the launch of a dynamic 360° advertising campaign and concludes with a significant achievement: the induction of our 75th LEAP engine! This milestone underscores the exceptional expertise and dedication of our teams.

Looking back at 75th LEAP induction at Air France KLM what do you see?

Bruno Tricoire: "Becoming part of “CFM LEAP Premier MRO network” (previously known as CBSA) in 2022 was an important move for AFKL & expedited our LEAP Industrialization ramp up. Training our technicians for LEAP capability, implementing all necessary processes and tooling, ramping up our parts repair industrialization at 3 locations (Air France, KLM and our subsidiary CRMA) generated a solid fundament for future LEAP MRO. Furthermore, by working with CFM on LEAP MRO network, we built solid experience quickly, speeding up our learning curve to perform LEAP Quick Turns for CFM and customers."

What are the key challenges?

BT: "LEAP offers improved fuel efficiency, and has encountered some durability challenges, especially in hot and dusty operating environments. These issues will require LEAP engines to undergo more frequent inspections and maintenance, at least until full implementation of the design improvement, which requires increased MRO capacity. LEAP slots scarcity will for sure be a challenge for the coming years. Therefore, we heavily increase our shop capacity to offer our customers the slot capacity they need, and quickly build up parts repair capability to control MRO cost and TAT. LEAP is a new generation engines containing a wide range of new designed parts and components material, requiring new MRO technologies."

What has Air France KLM to offer to LEAP customers today?

Martijn De Vries: “Dual Capacity & testcells! We provide LEAP-1A and LEAP-1B capabilities at both Air France in Paris and KLM in Amsterdam, offering greater slot flexibility for our customers. We have built extensive LEAP MRO experience, focusing on the most common work scopes and staying aligned with market developments. As a century-strong Airline MRO operator, our expertise spans generations of engines, from the CFM56 to the latest GEnx. This wealth of experience ensures that we confidently deliver the LEAP MRO support our customers need to efficiently manage their LEAP engine fleets.”

How do you envision the future?

MdV: "In the near future, we anticipate a growing demand for Quick Turn solutions and specific hospital visit work scopes. With dual capability at both our locations, we are well-positioned to meet the needs of global customers. We also foresee an increase in performance restoration shop visits, where our three in-house parts repair facilities will play a key role in reducing costs and turnaround times. Looking ahead, we will continue to offer a comprehensive range of support services, including on-site and on-wing support, spare engine provisioning, engine changes, Prognos health monitoring, engine washes, Quick Turns, performance restorations, and component and parts repairs. This holistic approach ensures we remain a trusted partner for our customers' evolving needs."