Just over a year ago Lufthansa Technik established a joint venture with local specialists, Sofia-based ViTech Development (to be renamed to Vaerolabs soon), placing it at the heart of the full digital transformation of the German giant with a commitment to invest 100 million levs (50 million euro) over the next five years. In addition to the German conglomerate, Vaerolabs is backed by well-known names in the Bulgarian IT sector led by Radoslav Gaydarski, who also manages ViTech Development.
Lufthansa Technik's path to Vaerolabs was long and well thought out. Following a public tender in 2021, the company has worked with Bulgarian IT firm CleverPine, whose shareholders include three renowned specialists and entrepreneurs: Gaydarski, Georgi Litvinenko and Hristo Todorov. Since then, CleverPine has been a subcontractor on various digital projects for Lufthansa Technik - a partnership that has clearly been mutually beneficial.
A part of something bigger
The collaboration with CleverPine is just one small step in Lufthansa Technik's much broader strategy launched at the start of the pandemic and aimed at fully digitizing all group processes - from aircraft maintenance to activities such as quoting, inventory and materials management, work scheduling and more. The group aims for the digitization efforts to generate 300 million euro in profit by 2028, with at least 30-40% of the digital projects executed internally and the rest by external partners.
The new company lies at the intersection of digital technologies and aviation. The joint venture began operations in early January 2024 with around ten specialists. Lufthansa Technik holds 75% of the Bulgarian company and the remaining 25% is owned by the firm behind CleverPine, KP Ventures, whose shareholders are Gaydarski, Litvinenko and Todorov. Separately, CleverPine continues to work on Lufthansa projects as an external contractor.
A year and a half later, Vaerolabs' team has already developed two products for Lufthansa Technik: a credit platform that automates numerous processes and data within Lufthansa Technik's maintenance line, and a system for pricing, quoting and offer management. The expected return from deploying these two products is in the tens of millions of euro just in the first year.
Vaerolabs employs nearly 50 specialists, with a goal of reaching 90 by 2026 (CleverPine has around 110 employees) across various roles: technical and program managers, software engineers, designers, so-called SecOps and others.
Official revenue data for 2024 is not yet available but according to Gaydarski, Vaerolabs generated more than 6 million euro in revenue last year.
Approximately 70% of the planned 100 million levs investment over the coming years will go toward salaries-i.e., the anticipated team expansion.
A model for the future
Beyond the specific case of Vaerolabs, the partnership with Lufthansa Technik showcases one way in which the Bulgarian IT sector can evolve to work more successfully and efficiently in the future - beyond IT outsourcing. "Our sector can't continue to exist in the same model it followed from 2000 to 2020," Gaydarski says. He points to the past three years, during which hiring in the industry significantly slowed and there has been a noticeable withdrawal of foreign investment from the sector.
"To me, the joint venture model can be a winning approach for the Bulgarian ecosystem. Not just someone coming here and opening an office but actually working with local partners. There are already enough strong companies in Bulgaria that can partner with external investors - not just be contractors," says Radoslav Gaydarski.
Another partnership
Lufthansa Technik has been in Bulgaria for years with another "analog" joint venture. The German giant landed at Sofia Airport in 2008 through a partnership with the aviation arm of Chimimport Group, where it launched an MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facility for Europe. Over the years the company has increased its capacity several times-from 2 to 5 lines, and later to 8, meaning it can simultaneously service 8 narrow-body aircraft. As of early this year, the company employs over 1,300 people.
The Sofia base is Lufthansa Technik's largest in Europe outside Germany. The local entity has become a strategic hub for engineering services and logistics for the Lufthansa Technik group. The base services the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region, focusing on narrow-body aircraft that are of key importance in Europe. Major clients include Lufthansa and Eurowings, EasyJet, Pegasus, Bulgaria Air, and some leasing companies like DAE. The number of aircraft serviced annually at the base is around 100, with all lines running at full capacity.
Just over a year ago Lufthansa Technik established a joint venture with local specialists, Sofia-based ViTech Development (to be renamed to Vaerolabs soon), placing it at the heart of the full digital transformation of the German giant with a commitment to invest 100 million levs (50 million euro) over the next five years. In addition to the German conglomerate, Vaerolabs is backed by well-known names in the Bulgarian IT sector led by Radoslav Gaydarski, who also manages ViTech Development.
Lufthansa Technik's path to Vaerolabs was long and well thought out. Following a public tender in 2021, the company has worked with Bulgarian IT firm CleverPine, whose shareholders include three renowned specialists and entrepreneurs: Gaydarski, Georgi Litvinenko and Hristo Todorov. Since then, CleverPine has been a subcontractor on various digital projects for Lufthansa Technik - a partnership that has clearly been mutually beneficial.
