Aircraft, engines and landing gears trading, leasing, and part-out company, APOC Aviation, has signed a 12-month green-time lease agreement with Condor for a CFM56-5A engine, bolstering the Hamburg-based carrier’s A320 fleet operations.

The engine, secured by Condor’s technical team as a ‘spare’, is expected to be installed immediately and will remain in service for the duration of the lease. Once returned, the asset will be added back into APOC Aviation’s engine portfolio, where it is slated for teardown and part-out next year.

Bruce Ansell, technical manager of APOC Aviation’s engines division, highlighted the challenges of sourcing this engine variant. “A significant number of CFM56-5A engines are still in operation, supporting older Airbus A320 family aircraft. Due to increased demand and limited availability, prices for CFM56 engines and their components have been rising, and we have been building our lease portfolio of these engine variants,” he said.

Ansell noted that operators remain focused on maintenance solutions that maximise aircraft utilisation. “Although new engine types are gaining traction, with current availability and reliability issues, we see demand for CFM56 engines continuing through 2030,” he added.

Condor, which has served passengers for nearly 70 years and flies to around 70 destinations worldwide, is in the process of renewing its short- and medium-haul fleet with A320neo and A321neo aircraft.

Ronald Restorf, asset manager at Condor, said: “Until the completion of the modernisation we are still operating A320ceo aircraft that are maintained by Condor Technik, our own maintenance organisation. For these aircraft and their maintenance, we need a reliable partner that supports us with the engine handling and whose focused portfolio is closely aligned to our lease requirement.”

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