China Southern Airlines will, in future, use Demag crane systems for the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of its aircraft fleet. The Chinese airline commissioned Terex Material Handling with the installation of process cranes equipped with maintenance platforms in the hangar at Shenzhen airport. Four Demag suspension cranes operate on 100-m-long crane runways in the MRO hangar, which measures approximately 8,000 sq m in size. A maintenance platform and a further 10-tonne service crab that can transfer to three process cranes enable precise positioning of the high-grade aircraft components in addition to maintenance.

China Southern Airlines has sought expertise in the shape of Demag crane systems for MRO of its aircraft fleet

Lutz Dowy, vice president sales and product management, Terex Material Handling, says: “Demag process cranes with teleplatforms in a modular design for the MRO hangar have been created through the closely co-ordinated co-operation of our global network of experts. In addition to project management and engineering from Germany, we combine the production know-how of our process crane plant in Slany with local steel construction. Our customers benefit from short delivery and assembly times thanks to our tried-and-tested Demag platform technology with pre-assembled and completely tested components.”

The crane technology in the MRO hangar in Shenzhen consists of a system with three interlocking suspension cranes equipped with teleplatforms, a 10-tonne service load hook crab and a maintenance crane in the tail area. A process crane with multiple suspension arrangements with a span of 32.5 m and two suspension cranes with 17.5 m span travel on two parallel crane runways in the 100-metre-long bay. Thanks to installation of the crane runways directly on the building structure, further supports are not required, which leaves the entire approximately 8,000 sq m surface area available for the aircraft. Additional flexibility is achieved by the possibility of interlocking the crane installations. This arrangement enables the maintenance platform and service crab to be transferred from one crane to another and precisely positioned wherever they are needed. The hangar provides a large enough area to simultaneously accommodate up to four Airbus A320 aircraft or one of these aircraft with a wide body aircraft such as an Airbus A330.

Demag maintenance platforms have a surface area of approximately 18 sq m to accommodate maintenance specialists who can use the platform to access virtually any point of the aircraft. By suspending a platform on a telescopic mast, precise and sway-free lifting can be ensured. The platform is also equipped with the required utility connections. Additional flexibility is achieved by installation of a crane on board the working platform with which the aircraft components can be lifted directly onto the platform.

Thanks to the installation of a 10-tonne service crab, the cranes are can also be used to install and remove large aircraft components. The maintenance system in the new hangar of China Southern Airlines is completed by a Demag two-tonne universal suspension crane that supports the work in the tail units.

Terex Corporation is one of the world’s leading suppliers of crane technology with Demag industrial cranes and crane components.