The dim light through the windows in the large workshop near the tower mixes with the neon light of the ceiling lamps. Three planes are waiting in the Eurowings maintenance hangar in Nuremberg to be checked by about 80 aircraft technicians and electronics specialists and made fit for their next flights. This is the HQ of Eurowings Equipment.

„In Nuremberg, we can do everything, from the routine check to complex structural repairs“, Hermann Zwosta, Manager Base Maintenance for Eurowings, explains. The station is divided into two sections: technical maintenance and admin, the latter also responsible for the coordination of technical matters with the other equipment stations of Eurowings in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Cologne and Hanover.

On shift duty

The Eurowings technicians in Nuremberg work three shifts: This way, the different types of aeroplanes in the Eurowings fleet, i.e., BAe-146 and CRJ-200 and CRJ-700 jets, can be maintained overnight and at weekends to put them back into service as quickly as possible. Weekend assignments in Nuremberg at present include mainly 1A checks at the 4-engine BAe 146's from British Aerospace – the manufacturer requires a 1A check after 625 landings. „C checks, on the other hand, have been done in Exeter in the UK since a little more than two years“, technician Wolfgang Mang explains. Before that, C checks had also been made in Nuremberg.

For a C check, whole assemblies are checked and replaced, depending on the number of landings and the time in flight. This includes, for example, the undercarriage, which is disassembled and repaired as needed. Then it is assembled again. „Normally, this takes a week or more to complete“, Wolfgang Mang says.

The experts from Nuremberg also go to external stations throughout Europe to assist technicians there. In urgent cases, an emergency team travels to wherever a technical problem has arisen. This happened in March this year, when Wolfgang Mang and his colleagues were called to Berlin: Birds had got into the engines of a BAe and also hit the wings. The damage to the airliner was so extensive that after consultation with the manufacturer and makeshift repairs in Berlin-Tegel, the plane was transferred to Nuremberg for final repairs.

On average, five or six planes are maintained or repaired In Nuremberg every night. Work-intensive night shifts in the Nuremberg workshop and field missions alternate, Wolfgang Mang adds: „The night can be a normal night, during which you only do routine inspections, i.e., daily checks, line checks or weekly checks, and orders from technical planning. Or there is such an amount of work that a plane must be left for the morning shift to look at – for example, when a jet engine must be changed.“ Jets are not only maintained here, they are also fitted with latest technology, such as new cameras for safety in the cabin. The Nuremberg equipment base keeps a stock of spares to take care of all standard repairs. „We can carry out maintenance and repair jobs absolutely fast and accurately, Hermann Zwosta explains, „and I would be glad if what we have here in Nuremberg could even be added to in future.“