Porto, Portugal, May 13, 2026 (Lusa) - Lufthansa Technik Portugal’s CEO, Torsten Raabe, said on Wednesday that building the company's factory in Santa Maria da Feira, in northern Portugal, is "totally independent" of the privatisation of TAP, Portugal’s flag carrier, where the German group is a candidate.
"Lufthansa Technik's decision is totally independent of Lufthansa's other activities," Raabe told journalists during an event marking 45 years of Lufthansa flights to Porto and 15 years of LGSP (Lufthansa Ground Services Portugal) on Wednesday at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport.
He said Lufthansa Technik "sought a European location for growth" and found the "perfect place" in Portugal, specifically Santa Maria da Feira due to its infrastructure.
The project involves a €300 million investment to build a Lufthansa Technik factory that should create 700 jobs by 2030.
Construction starts in June after the Portuguese Environmental Agency (APA) gave its approval in April.
Raabe said the factory, which repairs aircraft engines and components, began operations on April 1 in rented facilities. It currently employs 75 workers and plans to hire more "monthly."
He said the new site would begin full-scale production no later than the start of 2028, and the operation would then need about two years to reach full capacity.
Highlighting training investments, Raabe said the company is partnering with “training schools and universities to develop a workforce” because northern Portugal lacks "people with aviation experience."
He added that workers would come not only from the Santa Maria da Feira region, but also "from other parts of Portugal and abroad, especially Portuguese citizens [now living overseas] who want to return to Portugal and take up this opportunity."
"When production starts in the new facilities, we want 200 trained people ready to work," he added.
He shared a "curious fact" that the first component repaired at the factory was a coffee machine.
"One might think it is simple, but for most people on a plane, a coffee machine is the most important part of the aircraft," he joked.
Raabe said production would progress to more complex components, such as engine parts, later this year.
The goal is to repair a wide variety of equipment in Santa Maria da Feira.
"We will perform almost the full spectrum of repairs here in Portugal that we do elsewhere," he concluded.
PD/LYT // AYLS
Lusa
