Huge potential seen in MAINTENANCE work

[webfact]

Huge potential seen in MAINTENANCE work

By PHUWIT LIVIPHWUAT, 
SUPALAK GANJANAKHUNDEE 
THE NATION

 

 

WHILE THAILAND’S aeronautical industry will see a rapid expansion in the next 20 years as the country is set to become the Asean region’s hub for aircraft maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO), strong political will and a “mechanism” are needed to make the fuller ambition come true.

 

Airbus and national flag carrier Thai Airways (THAI) signed a joint venture for MRO facilities at U-tapao Airport in Rayong province, in June 2018. Creating an MRO hub at U-tapao Airport, located in one of the three provinces in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) special economic zone, has been one of the EEC’s flagship projects since its launch under the Thailand 4.0 policy in 2016. 

 

Foreign investors see the potential for growth in Thailand’s aeronautical industry in the next two decades. This year, some 7,000 aircraft will fly across the Asia Pacific region, and the number is expected to reach 20,000 over the next 20 years, according to Airbus. 

 

“Hence, there is a need to increase maintenance capacity in the Asian-Pacific region,” said Pierre Jaffre, president of Airbus Asia Pacific.

 

The government’s Thailand 4.0 policy and the development of the EEC, he said, present a promising opportunity for Airbus to meet this demand, and has led it to establish an MRO centre in cooperation with THAI in Rayong. 

 

“Of all the EEC projects, the MRO hub at U-tapao Airport has the highest possibility for success,” said Phacharaphot Nuntramas, senior vice president for global business development and strategy group at Krungthai Macro Research. 

 

This, he explained in an interview with The Nation, is because the aeronautical industry in Thailand has strong fundamentals with more opportunities to grow in the economic environment of the Asean region. 

 

Particularly, he said, there has been a growth of smaller airlines such as AirAsia and Vietjet in the region, and the aircraft from these smaller carriers will require maintenance.

 

“The other key MRO centre in the region is located in Singapore, which faces the challenge of limited land space,” he continued. The growth of smaller airlines means that smaller-sized aircraft will be used more often, leading to a growth in the demand for maintenance space”

 

“This market trend presents an opportunity for the MRO centre at U-tapao to rise and become Southeast Asia’s new regional MRO hub,” Phacharaphot stated.

 

Looking at the big picture, the MRO centre is a key plank in the development plans of the aeronautical industry, said Thailand’s former ambassador to France, Sihasak, Phuangketkeow, who helped THAI and Airbus conclude the MRO deal last year, adding that Thailand needs to ensure the sector’s future growth.

 

Thailand has great potential in the sector, as the Kingdom is already a regional aviation hub and boasts a strong automobile and electronics manufacturing base on which to build an aircraft and spacecraft sector, he said.

 

The country has already developed legal instruments to encourage foreign investment, not only for the MRO sector but also for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), said Sihasak who is now an advisor to the EEC project. “We are improving our ecosystem to accommodate S-curve technology industries,” he said. 

 

The TIROS II with Airbus could also be spun off to encourage a future space industry in the country, as the technology transfer could help Thais to develop the sector, he said.

 

The biggest challenge to the long-term development of the MRO centre, like other projects in the EEC, is the imminent lack of skilled labour, Phacharaphot said. Sihasak agreed and added that the country also needed to compete with neighbouring Asean countries, notably Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam which have had a stronger focus on the aviation and aeronautical industry.

 

“Our strength is that our workforces have a strong commitment to their work and our airbases with huge space, like U-tapao, are available,” he said. “We are also aiming higher to build an ‘aerotropolis’ in the region.” Research has shown that in the next 10 years, the targeted ‘S-Curve’ technological industries in the EEC will require an additional one million workers, with almost 500,000 jobs in demand in the next five years, according to the EEC office. The research also revealed that the aeronautical industry will demand an additional 30,000 skilled workers in the next half-decade. 

 

To meet this demand, Phacharaphot suggested, the supply-side will need to quickly develop the appropriate curricula to build a capable labour force to support the growth of the aeronautical industry in the next two decades.

 

An alternative solution is to recruit foreign talent to, for example, operate the MRO centre in U-tapao. The government has been issuing “Smart Visas” since February 2018 to allow highly trained foreign talents working in the targeted ‘S-Curve’ technological industries to work in the Kingdom for up to four years without having to renew their visas yearly.

 

However, adoption of the Smart Visa has been disappointing, with only approximately 100 foreign talents so far having been issued the special visa in the past year, according to the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA).

 

More importantly, Sihasak said, both the government and private sector should have a clear joint vision and a strong will to get aboard the S-Curve technology industry. The country should have a national mechanism to move this sector forward, he said. “We cannot just wait for foreign investment and technology transfer to develop the aeronautical industry,” he said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/Economy/30371913

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-07-01

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[Chazar]

I really don't think the mentality in Thailand  lends itself to maintenance work especially in an aviation environment.

[Chazar]

30 minutes ago, webfact said:

However, adoption of the Smart Visa has been disappointing, with only approximately 100 foreign talents so far having been issued the special visa in the past year, according to the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA).

Golly, no surprise there!

[Bob12345]

3 hours ago, Chazar said:

I really don't think the mentality in Thailand  lends itself to maintenance work especially in an aviation environment.

Agree, I dont mind them doing maintenance on my car, but when my plane needs a checkup you bet I go somewhere else. 

[legend49]

Is the word " maintenance"  in their vocabulary?

[Lupatria]

No worries here. They hired the expert Thai guy who won the paper plane competition.

[1Gringo]

if this becomes true, I'll stop flying with those airlines!

[davehowden]

Yes, a Boeing 737 MAX maintained in Thailand, what could possibly go wrong !!

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

WHILE THAILAND’S aeronautical industry will see a rapid expansion in the next 20 years as the country is set to become the Asean region’s hub for aircraft maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO), strong political will and a “mechanism” are needed to make the fuller ambition come true.

I'm speechless !

[worgeordie]

They cannot even maintain the brakes on Trucks and Buses,........Airplanes !!!!!!

 

regards Worgeordie

[djayz]

37 minutes ago, legend49 said:

Is the word " maintenance"  in their vocabulary?

Yes, it is. It's called "mai bpen rai" in Thai and "why you think too much" is a synonym. ????

Edited July 1, 2019 by djayz

[Chazar]

4 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

They cannot even maintain the brakes on Trucks and Buses,........Airplanes !!!!!!

 

regards Worgeordie

Brake failure at 30000 feet.......????

[upena]

From the country banned from flying to the USA.

[essox essox]

3 hours ago, Chazar said:

I really don't think the mentality in Thailand  lends itself to maintenance work especially in an aviation environment.

bet none of them know what a turbine blade is made from or an egv....or ogv?? would they know what the big fan blade is made from??

[mfd101]

Prayut has good relations with Putin. Perhaps Aeroflot could offer skilled workers on a contract basis?

[gregsmithy]

The government has already placed an order online with alibaba for 100000 Airfix training kits to be delivered nationwide to all schools for the future aircraft engineers so all will be good. ????

[essox essox]

28 minutes ago, davehowden said:

Yes, a Boeing 737 MAX maintained in Thailand, what could possibly go wrong !!

THE ENGINE could fall off......

[NCC1701A]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

the country is set to become the Asean region’s hub for aircraft maintenance repair and overhaul

 

Edited July 1, 2019 by NCC1701A

[fforest1]

However, adoption of the Smart Visa has been disappointing, with only approximately 100 foreign talents so far having been issued the special visa in the past year, according to the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA).

 

Boy I guess the Smart visa is in stiff competition with the O-X visa for the crappiest visa in Thailand.....

Even big companies are thumbing their noes at this Smart visa turd....   

 

Edited July 1, 2019 by fforest1

[mikebell]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Huge potential seen in MAINTENANCE work

Thais couldn't maintain a garden gate.  Just got my car back from Honda.  I had a problem with the driver's window.  It took FIVE visits during which I paid for new glass! New automatic switch! New mechanism for winding.  They didn't service/maintain they merely replace bits.  Of course none of the parts were kept on premises in Pattaya so I had to wait for them to arrive from Bangkok.  Each visit was at least two hours but mainly three.

[30la]

I don't know how they plan to make it, unless they change their monetary policy.

[fforest1]

Not maintaining public infrastructure is coded in the Thai DNA.....Thais are the last people who should be maintaining aircraft...   

[RichardColeman]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Our strength is that our workforces have a strong commitment to their work

Nearly spilt my tea there.

[Brickbat]

Now Everyone Can Fly....ooops...Die!

 

Seriously, I think Thailand is heading upwards. Think negatively at your peril. Airbus would not tolerate or deal with incompetence. 

[Geoffggi]

1 hour ago, worgeordie said:

They cannot even maintain the brakes on Trucks and Buses,........Airplanes !!!!!!

 

regards Worgeordie

Maybe a good time to invest in new shipping lines to & from Thailand .......

[ThaiBunny]

AFAIK the Thai approach to maintenance is entirely percussive

[Sir Swagman]

54 minutes ago, mikebell said:

Thais couldn't maintain a garden gate.  Just got my car back from Honda.  I had a problem with the driver's window.  It took FIVE visits during which I paid for new glass! New automatic switch! New mechanism for winding.  They didn't service/maintain they merely replace bits.  Of course none of the parts were kept on premises in Pattaya so I had to wait for them to arrive from Bangkok.  Each visit was at least two hours but mainly three.

Pretty sure it will be similar to your your car experience. Do overs will be the norm I am guessing. TG maintenance was usually a replace rather than repair. Saw some inexplicable, and at times unconscionable, maintenance practices. 

32 minutes ago, Brickbat said:

Now Everyone Can Fly....ooops...Die!

 

Seriously, I think Thailand is heading upwards. Think negatively at your peril. Airbus would not tolerate or deal with incompetence. 

Airbus go on price, not performance. If incompetence falls on the ‘black’ side of the ledger....no problem.

 

[Dumbastheycome]

18 minutes ago, Brickbat said:

Now Everyone Can Fly....ooops...Die!

 

Seriously, I think Thailand is heading upwards. Think negatively at your peril. Airbus would not tolerate or deal with incompetence. 

If the general negative opinion expressed by so many here, whose experience or knowledge of Thai is  based mainly on popular social venues or services, are to be believed then perhaps they should research the vast numbers of very high tech industries in existence as well as a remarkable number of unheralded innovative products designed, developed and marketed internationally from Thai industries.

Derision relative to the topic of aircraft maintenance perhaps should be considered comparatively of the debacle of the Max 8 and the ongoing issues with the extolled F35 ?

[Brickbat]

20 minutes ago, Dumbastheycome said:

If the general negative opinion expressed by so many here, whose experience or knowledge of Thai is  based mainly on popular social venues or services, are to be believed then perhaps they should research the vast numbers of very high tech industries in existence as well as a remarkable number of unheralded innovative products designed, developed and marketed internationally from Thai industries.

Derision relative to the topic of aircraft maintenance perhaps should be considered comparatively of the debacle of the Max 8 and the ongoing issues with the extolled F35 ?

Well said, Dumbo. Nice change to read a post that has words with more than 2 syllables .Casting aspersions is a cheap way for them to feel good.

 

As Edison said, 5% Think, 10% Think they think and 85% would rather die than think . This last number could apply to most posts. 

 

[Retfed50]

2 hours ago, legend49 said:

Is the word " maintenance"  in their vocabulary?

No. They left it out along with the word "Safety"!