Story ID: 
DRF Maintenance Expands Helo Maintenance at Straubing
By: Matt Thurber
Caption: Facility specializes in work on aeromedical helicopters
Word Count: 189
DRF Maintenance has opened a new EASA Part 145 helicopter hangar at Straubing in Germany’s Bavaria state and completed the location’s first extensive maintenance contract. The location joins DRF’s maintenance facilities in Wilhelmshaven in Lower Saxony and Rheinmünster at Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport, and it is ideally positioned to serve aeromedical helicopters operated by DRF Luftrettung and Austria’s ARA Flugrettung.
The first contract done at Straubing included software updates and detailed engine and avionics inspections. Aircraft serviced at Straubing include the Airbus EC155 and H145, and DRF plans to add the H135. The facility is equipped with “maintenance docks, modern workstations for complex maintenance work, and workshops for sheet metal repairs and avionics,” according to DRF.
“The opening in Straubing is an important step, both for us and for our customers,” said Hendrik Schubien, managing director of DRF Maintenance. “It brings our service quality closer to them and at the same time enables more efficient processes.” With more than 50 years of experience in air rescue and maintenance, he added, “This expertise remains at the heart of our quality promise.”