By Rozanna Latiff
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The global aircraft repair industry will see more growth in the next six years as airlines keep flying their jets longer because of a shortage of new planes, said Mahesh Kumar, the CEO of Malaysia-based aviation services firm Asia Digital Engineering (ADE).
New deliveries have dropped sharply in recent months amid supply chain disruptions and rising labour costs, driving carriers to retain aircraft maintenance, repairs and operations (MRO) services for longer to keep older planes in the air, Mahesh said.
"It's a boom for the MRO business," he told Reuters in an interview on Monday.
ADE, a unit of Capital A, which also operates budget airline AirAsia, has seen rapid growth since it began operations in September 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company, which conducts line maintenance as well as more comprehensive base maintenance checks, in 2023 doubled its annual revenue to 574 million ringgit ($122.91 million), amid a surge in flying activity.
Its slots are fully booked until the end of 2025, including at its new 14-line maintenance hangar near Kuala Lumpur International Airport that will be Malaysia's largest when it opens in August, Mahesh said.
While AirAsia remains its biggest customer, ADE expects to attract more third-party airlines and expand its services to cover a wider range of aircraft, including potentially Chinese planemaker COMAC, which aims to rival Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Airbus.
"They've approached us and we have visited COMAC's (facilities) as well," Mahesh said, adding that there were no plans yet for the firms to cooperate.
"There's a lot of similarity between the Airbus and COMAC's aircraft components also. So from the MRO's perspective, we are pretty excited to service their airplanes."
ADE was also working to tackle industry delays because of ongoing labour and supply challenges. It has developed software to monitor and predict an aircraft's maintenance needs, which has helped cut average repair times by 20%-30%, Mahesh said.
It also operates Aerotrade, an online marketplace that allows airlines and aviation companies to buy and sell aircraft parts, he said.
($1 = 4.6700 ringgit)