How AEI Earned Lufthansa’s Trust and Secured Wizz Air (Part III.)
Even today, a few veterans at Bratislava Airport occasionally recall how, back in 2010, they helped their boss Branislav choose a proper coat. He was heading to Germany to personally present a young Slovak company to the renowned Lufthansa Technik Maintenance International. The goal was clear: to position the company as a provider of aircraft maintenance services on the international aviation market. And for that, one must dress accordingly.
They had already established contacts with the Germans. Branislav had written to Germany several times before, offering Slovak services to the company responsible for maintaining Lufthansa aircraft worldwide. It took time, but persistence paid off. Eventually, Hamburg responded and invited him to the headquarters. He must have made an impression, as he received a surprising offer: to provide line maintenance in Romania for a young, ambitious Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air.
One Introduction That Changed AEI Forever
This rapidly growing ultra-low-cost airline had already been known to Lufthansa since late 2009, as Lufthansa had been providing Wizz Air with valuable advisory support. They knew Wizz Air was preparing to open routes from Romania and needed high-quality aircraft maintenance, yet lacked the capacity to build its own demanding maintenance base. Lufthansa therefore introduced the new Bratislava-based company, Aeroengineers International (AEI), to Wizz Air. The partnership proved successful for all parties. AEI guaranteed 24/7, fast, and reliable service. A mutually beneficial three-way cooperation was born.
In August 2010, AEI opened its first line maintenance base for Wizz Air in Timișoara, Romania, followed within weeks by Cluj. Craiova, Iași, Sibiu, and Bucharest Otopeni followed. When Wizz Air launched flights from Yerevan, Armenia in 2020, gradually connecting the city to sixteen European destinations, it once again entrusted maintenance to the Slovak team.
Wizz Air had attempted to launch a route from Bratislava to Rome in 2009 but was unsuccessful. In 2015, it began operating from Košice, and the following year it returned to Bratislava. From late 2025, it has been expanding significantly there, with seventeen routes planned from the Slovak capital by spring 2026. AEI won tenders to maintain Hungarian-based Airbus aircraft, and Ryanair entrusted the maintenance of three Boeing 737 aircraft based in Bratislava to AEI- a partnership that continues today.
In 2017, Wizz Air opened operations in Chișinău, the capital of Moldova, flying to thirty-six European destinations. Slovak passengers might wonder why the airline focuses on relatively less affluent regions of Southern and Eastern Europe, while withdrawing from markets such as Abu Dhabi, certain post-Soviet countries, Vienna, the Czech Republic, and several major Western European hubs. The answer lies in the low-cost model. Unlike traditional carriers targeting wealthier clientele with business-class comfort, prime-time frequencies, hub connections, and onboard services, low-cost airlines emerged strongly after the fall of the Iron Curtain. They connected smaller regional airports, enabled labor mobility from East to West, offered affordable travel for students, and provided low-cost holiday options. They are flexible, quick to open new routes—and equally quick to close those that prove unprofitable.
Today, AEI operates at six airports across five countries. While some Romanian bases were eventually closed, a new addition to the portfolio since late 2025 is Norwich Regional Airport in the United Kingdom.
The company now employs around one hundred people. Over its fifteen-year history, AEI has employed Slovaks, Czechs, French, Hungarians, Italians, Spaniards, Croatians—even an Icelander and a Filipino living in Ireland. In Armenia and Moldova, AEI has trained and developed local personnel, meaning Slovak staff no longer need to travel there – reducing travel, accommodation, and per diem costs. These efficiencies contribute to the company’s performance. Last year, AEI reached a turnover of EUR 19 million.
Although the company primarily specializes in Boeing 737-800 Next Generation and MAX aircraft, as well as the Airbus A320 family – including the 239-seat A321neo – it also holds approval for hangar maintenance of Fokker 100 aircraft and Airbus A319 aircraft operated by the Aviation Unit of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic, as well as their Leonardo AW189 helicopter. AEI is also authorized to maintain Embraer 170/190 aircraft and, in Bratislava, services 388-seat Airbus A330 aircraft operated by the Spanish airline World2Fly for winter charter flights to the Dominican Republic and Vietnam.
AEI continues to diversify its services strategically. It supplies airlines with certified spare parts and consumables, and together with partners, provides aircraft painting and post-maintenance weighing services. Weight control is critical in aviation – airports charge fees based on aircraft weight, and even paint selection or cabin configuration can influence overall mass. At Hradec Králové Airport in the Czech Republic, AEI established HeliBuddy, a company specializing in maintenance of Airbus Helicopters aircraft, aiming to become a strong partner for both civil and governmental helicopter operators in Central Europe.
