Page 20 - AAA JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2012 Online Magazine

MRO

Asian Power some economic headwinds, Asian
With 2012 expected to through up

MRO operators can at least reconcile
themselves with the fact that they are
The Asian MRO sector is not immune to global events, but based in an area that will likely be
is nonetheless showing its muscle more bouyant than most.
Asia is in fact home to the largest
MRO operator in the world - ST Aero-
sia is beginning to make its market, and 2.4% for North America. space, with subsidiaries or joint ven-
Aweight felt in the maintenance, According to Doan, 2010 marked the tures in China, Denmark, Norway,
repair and overhaul market. With the bottom of the cycle for the MRO mar- Sweden, the UK, USA and Panama.
region’s fleet likely to head to even- ket, but, “The business has changed ST Aerospace secured new mainte-
tual parity with North America and forever.” Disruptions to traffic are be- nance contracts worth a total of S$453m
Europe, the region - as with all else in coming more frequent and isolated im- in the third quarter of 2011, ranging
aerospace, is something of a hotspot. pacts are having far-ranging effects. from three to 18 months.
“While North America and West- “Airlines are now poised to adjust The Aircraft Maintenance & Modi-
ern Europe have the largest fleets and more rapidly to future changes in de- fication business group sealed new
MRO markets, the growth areas lie in mand than they may have in the past,” airframe contracts, which include base
emerging regions such as India, China says Doan. “2010 marked a notable lev- maintenance, heavy maintenance, pas-
and Eastern Europe,” says Chris Doan, elling of capacity. ASMs declined 1% senger-to-freighter (PTF) conversion
President and CEO of TeamSAI. in 2010, mostly made up of long-haul and interior refurbishment on various
Growth rates of 6.8% can be expected widebody traffic. But the 1% decline commercial and military aircraft plat-
in Asia over the 2011-2021 period, Team in capacity has taken a dramatic toll forms.
SAI predicts, compared with 4.7% for Eu- on the associated MRO – 2010’s MRO The Component Total Support busi-
rope, boosted by a strong East European market was down 7.5%.” ness group was awarded new compo-

20 ASIAN AIRLINES & AIRPORTS January/February 2012 www.AsianAirlines-Airports.com