Page 5 - AAA NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2014 Online Magazine

SPECIAL FEATURE MRO ASIA

Problem of Plenty

The ability of the MRO industry to value-add will hinge heavily on the manpower
By Jay Menon

AS ASIA-PACIFIC REGION CEMENTS maintenance, repair and overhaul market.
its position as a powerhouse of growth Singapore Senior Minister of State
for commercial aviation maintenance, for Finance and Transport Josephine Teo
repair and overhaul (MRO), established said the Asia Pacific region is the centre
companies and several new ones are of growth for the aviation sector as it
looking to benefit from the growing has been estimated that in less than two
demand. decades, nearly half of the world’s traffic
While existing MROs in the region growth will be driven by travel to, from, or
are expanding facilities to absorb more within this region.
work and grow their presence, players “To meet this demand, the aircraft
from other parts of the globe are looking fleet in the region is expected to triple in
at establishing their own centres, or for size. In addition, the regional MRO market
firming partnerships to have a piece of the is projected to grow by over 65 per cent to
lucrative MRO pie. US$27.4 billion within the next 10 years.
The 14th Annual MRO Asia Conference There may be hiccups now and then but
and Exhibition, organized by The Penton’s the forward trajectory is a positive one,”
Aviation Week, early November in she told delegates at MRO Asia.
Singapore, enabled industry professionals Singapore, which is turning into a major
from over 50 countries to connect with MRO hub, is ready to capture this strong
Initiative by the
Singapore government existing customers, cultivate prospects, projected growth, with over 120 aerospace
is to prepare the and develop business partnerships, companies offering comprehensive “nose-
existing aviation besides addressing the critical issues to-tail” MRO services, she said. “Notably,
engineering workforce affecting the industry today. two of our home grown companies, ST
to be skilled to meet The event mainly focused on Aerospace and SIA Engineering Company,
the future regional and global commercial aviation are among the world’s top five airframe
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