THAI mulls options after failing to woo Airbus for U-Tapao MRO project

By THE NATION

 

 

European aviation giant Airbus SAS, as on Friday (March 6), has not submitted a proposal for the planned maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) project for jetliners at U-Tapao International Airport, Sumeth Damrongchaitham, president of Thai Airways International Plc (THAI), said on Saturday.

 

 

THAI has been looking for qualified candidates for the project since November 13, 2018 and had invited Airbus as they "are the most suitable candidate with the required specialty and experience".

 

“Since Airbus has not shown interest in the project, we will have to come up with another plan to choose a new partner,” said Sumeth. “Among the possible options are to open it for public bidding.”

 

The MRO project is a major component of Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) mega-investment project where the government aims to promote aviation and other industries. Dubbed as the largest MRO hub of its kind planned for Asia Pacific, the U-Tapao facility will have an annual capacity to service up to 4,800 wide-bodied aircrafts over the next two decades.

 

A source at THAI speculated that the reason behind Airbus not showing up is that they are uncertain they could fulfill the condition of bringing in a specific number of customers or aircraft to use the MRO throughout the contract period, and that Airbus already has another MRO contract in Sepang, Malaysia.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30383566

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-03-08

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5 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

“Among the possible options are to open it for public bidding.”

CP or Central Group it is then.

So much for the hugely profitable venture announced some time ago. Is the announcing minister still in parliament?

Possibly they are afraid Thai airways will not pay their bills.

Getting into bed with an insolvent airline and a military government probably wasn't on their list of priorities.

 

 

Build it and they will come. Worked in the movies?

Very happy that the EEC is failing.

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

Possibly they are afraid Thai airways will not pay their bills.

Who would want to touch anything with a total loser like Sumeth at the helm!

Well, you reap what you sow.

An economy which is, at best, lukewarm to international inbound investment and ownership can’t simply pick and choose when to invite people in when it suits them.

The international community has already developed their own assessment of Thailand as an investment destination, based on wider perception of investment/ownership rules, weak legal enforcement, availability of skilled employees and lack of a genuinely open and free market economy. That’s before even considering the socio-political baggage. 

 

A source at THAI speculated that the reason behind Airbus not showing up is that they are uncertain they could fulfill the condition of bringing in a specific number of customers or aircraft to use the MRO throughout the contract period, and that Airbus already has another MRO contract in Sepang, Malaysia.

 

Indeed, of which they have been shareholders of since 2011 and fully acquired in 2017. One assumes Thai were aware of this, and have likely been pissing in the wind for 2 years, still, some good marketing for EEC to throw the Airbus name in the mix...

Perhaps showing some flexibility on the customer/aircraft numbers per MRO contract would have been a good idea to get Airbus signed up. 

34 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

Very happy that the EEC is failing.

If it is failing or fails altogether then the Thai people miss out on jobs and foreign investment, the numpties at the top have already skimmed their cut.

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

“Since Airbus has not shown interest in the project, we will have to come up with another plan to choose a new partner,”

So, if you can nail a piece of wood, hammer things and make stabbing motions with a screw driver your still in with a chance then.

39 minutes ago, Oziex1 said:

If it is failing or fails altogether then the Thai people miss out on jobs and foreign investment, the numpties at the top have already skimmed their cut.

I don't care about any of them.

 

And neither do any significant percentage of them care about me or about you.

Maybe they should have emphasized their ability to quickly paint over livery?

 

 

they lose how many billions each year again ?

Things must be going extremely well at Airbus if they're turning down business from a national airline that explicitly wanted them for a piece of business.

 

 

4 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Possibly they are afraid Thai airways will not pay their bills.

Indeed.

They do have this reputation.

5 hours ago, Yadon Toploy said:

Getting into bed with an insolvent airline and a military government probably wasn't on their list of priorities.

 

 

Airbus were never going to get into bed with either " Thai " or the Government.

The skill sets that Airbus require are just not in Thailand. And neither is the Business strategies.

Another glittering prize for the EEC has gone down the Toilet along with Toyota Expansion Etc

6 hours ago, PowerKat said:

CP or Central Group it is then.

Can you imagine with CP (7-11), when the cabin crew open the door you hear "ding dong welcome"!

So what's next in this progression? One of the cornerstone's of the EEC is gonzo, so now the CP backed group working on the high speed train cries and cries and gets a significant reduction in their bid and better terms to operate. Yet the envelopes have already gone out and now likely in Switzerland.

Once again the Thai citizens get screwed while you know who wins!

7 hours ago, Fex Bluse said:

Very happy that the EEC is failing.

What a delightful outlook on life you have.

The Junta's big mastermind of the EEC looks more and more like a plan that will not work. The high speed rail has already had many question marks over how many people will actually be using it and certainly doesn't look cost effective. The only people to benefit from it will be the CP shareholders. There now doesn't seem to be any large scale international companies planning on investing in the EEC. 

 

As for this Airbus debacle, why the hell would the biggest company in aviation get into a partnership with an airline that is losing about $30M per month and ran by military bootlickers. As usual with Thailand, they want the money when it suits them, but don't put into practice any long term plans to attract large international investment. 

Arrogance and incompetence.

 

Famous traits here

7 hours ago, Fex Bluse said:

I don't care about any of them.

 

And neither do any significant percentage of them care about me or about you.

I care about people I wish them the best, I want them to have an opportunity to earn and put food on the table for their family. I want them to move forward with their lives unhindered by the corruption that is holding their country back.

12 minutes ago, Oziex1 said:

I care about people I wish them the best, I want them to have an opportunity to earn and put food on the table for their family. I want them to move forward with their lives unhindered by the corruption that is holding their country back.

That's a very positive view.

 

I used to feel the same way, decades ago.

 

I now no longer separate "the common people" from their leaders as I have found most common people aspire to be exactly like their usually corrupt leaders.

 

They all generally deserve each other.