MTU Maintenance and EVA Air sign exclusive engine MRO contract for CFM56-5B fleet
| Agreement covers EVA Air’s A321-200 fleet and marks MTU Maintenance’s re-entry into Taiwan market
| First time the Taiwanese carrier hires a non-OEM service provider on exclusive terms
Zhuhai, May 26, 2026 | MTU Maintenance and Taiwan’s EVA Air have signed an exclusive contract for the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of the carrier’s CFM56-5B engines powering its fleet of 17 Airbus A321-200 aircraft.
The long-term agreement covers all of the shop visits at MTU Maintenance Zhuhai, the network’s specialist for narrowbody aircraft engines. EVA Air will also have access to the engine lease pool of MTU Maintenance Lease Services, should it require spare engine support during shop visits. This contract marks the re-entry by MTU into the Taiwanese market and underpins the company’s drive in further establishing itself as the region’s go-to engine expert with growing capacities and vast capabilities. The global leader in customized engine MRO services last signed a contract with a Taiwanese carrier in 2016.
Gert Wagner, President and CEO of MTU Maintenance Zhuhai: “EVA Air is one of the biggest and most recognizable airlines in Asia-Pacific, and our entire network is ready to support them. Having surpassed the 5,000th shop-visit mark in Zhuhai in 2025, we have now set our sights on the next phase for the location: to be the best choice for narrowbody engines on the APAC market. This contract represents yet another building block in achieving that goal.”
This is the first time that EVA Air has chosen an independent company for comprehensive engine maintenance on exclusive terms. In the past, the airline continuously employed the services of original equipment manufacturers for engine MRO.
“EVA Air has very high expectations of our service providers,” says Steve Liu, Executive Vice President of Engineering & Maintenance at EVA Air. “Over the course of the talks and negotiations, MTU Maintenance’s extensive capabilities and technical expertise convinced us that it is the right partner to entrust our CFM56-5Bs for reliable and expert service.”
Besides the CFM56-5B and -7B variants, MTU Maintenance Zhuhai also services the engine’s respective successor models, the LEAP-1A and -1B, as well as IAE’s V2500 and the Pratt & Whitney’s PW1100G-JM GTFTM. In 2025, the company moved MRO production for its PW1100G-JM engine program to a new, state-of-the-art engine MRO facility in Jinwan, making the company the world’s largest MRO shop for narrowbody engines. Once fully ramped up, the location will have a combined capacity of over 700 shop visits annually. MTU Maintenance Zhuhai was founded as a 50/50 joint venture between China Southern Airlines and MTU Aero Engines in 2001.
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About MTU Aero Engines
MTU Aero Engines AG is a globally recognized expert in commercial and military aircraft engines. MTU‘s high-tech expertise ranges from the development and production of high-quality components to the final assembly of complete engines and the maintenance of aircraft engines and stationary gas turbines. In the financial year 2025, the DAX-listed company generated revenues of 8.7 billion euros. MTU technology can be found providing reliable thrust in one in three commercial aircraft worldwide. And every year, MTU maintains around 1,500 engines and industrial gas turbines. At 19 locations on five continents, more than 13,000 employees from over 80 nations contribute to safe global mobility. Together with other European engine manufacturers, MTU has also been ensuring and supporting the operational readiness of air forces for decades. To continue to benefit from the sustained growth of the aviation industry in the years to come, the company is investing in its expertise, industrial capacities and in future commercial and military engine concepts in Germany and worldwide. With the passion and innovative strength of its employees, MTU is shaping modern aviation – today, tomorrow and in the decades to come.