Korean Air will build an engine maintenance cluster in the Unbuk district of Yeongjong Island, Incheon, to expand its aircraft engine maintenance capacity and expand its aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business.
Korean Air announced on March 14 that it held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new engine maintenance center at its Unbuk-dong site in Incheon.
The new engine maintenance center will be located next to Korean Air’s Engine Test Center (ETC), which has been in operation since 2016. It is a two-basement, five-story building with a gross floor area of 142,211.73 square meters.
The center will cost a total of 578 billion won. Korean Air wants to complete it by the end of 2027. When it opens, it will be the largest aviation maintenance center in Asia. The number of engines that can be serviced will increase from 100 to 360 per year, and the variety of aircraft engines that can be serviced will be expanded.
Korean Air’s engine maintenance center is the only facility in Korea that specializes in civilian aircraft engine maintenance. Currently, Korean Air performs overhauls on six types of engines including Pratt & Whitney’s PW4000 Series and GTF engines, CFM International’s CFM56 engine and General Electric’s GE90-115B engine.
Korean Air plans to increase the number of engine models that can be serviced to nine including GE’s GEnx series and CFMI’s LEAP-1B engine. It is also conducting feasibility studies on engines for Asiana Airlines’ fleet including the A350’s Trent XWB engine.