What this year’s MRO Asia-Pacific taught me
By Tom Shadbolt, Global Sales Director, Lessor Support, Artemis Aerospace
I’ve just returned from my first visit to MRO Asia-Pacific, and I came away with the very clear impression that this is a market preparing for significant aviation aftermarket growth.
The event in Singapore brought together just about every part of the aviation aftermarket, from airlines, MROs and lessors to OEMs, distributors and component suppliers. It was busy, energetic and bigger than I expected. There was a real sense of people getting things done – making connections, catching up with long-standing contacts and looking for opportunities to do business.
What struck me most was how much investment and preparation is already underway across the region. I saw companies showcasing plans for new warehouses and facilities, with many clearly getting themselves ready for the growth they expect to see in the years ahead.
For me, that really brings home the importance of the Asia-Pacific aviation market and what it could mean for the region’s Asia-Pacific aerospace aftermarket.
Local aerospace presence matters
Artemis Aerospace already has a dedicated Singapore aerospace hub, providing storage, logistics and customs arrangements for customers. Seeing the scale of activity at MRO Asia-Pacific reinforced to me why having that local aerospace presence matters.
You can have excellent teams and facilities on the other side of the world, but when an operator, MRO or lessor needs a component quickly, being closer to the customer can make a real difference.
Our Singapore aerospace hub means we can provide regional support and respond more quickly to time-critical requirements. That’s particularly important when you’re dealing with aircraft component supply in Asia-Pacific and aircraft parts supply and availability. If a component is needed urgently, a delay in sourcing it can have consequences well beyond the component itself.
A global market with regional dynamics
One of the things that struck me at MRO Asia-Pacific was just how global the aviation industry really is, and how the challenges facing the industry are often the same wherever you are. That makes the Asia-Pacific vs European aviation market less straightforward to separate than you might expect.
The aircraft component sourcing landscape has certainly had to adapt to the many global challenges we’re seeing at the moment. OEMs have experienced delays in delivering new aircraft, while operators have also had to deal with wider aviation supply chain constraints and changing operating costs. One result is that aircraft which might previously have been expected to leave service are continuing to fly.
What’s happening to older aircraft?
We’ve seen leases extended over the last two to three years, so both newer and older aircraft are now moving through the market at the same time. For lessors and operators, that raises the interesting question of what happens to the older aircraft when a new aircraft is eventually delivered to replace it. From an aircraft lifecycle management perspective, does it stay on the books; move to another operator; or does it get torn down and the parts sold?
As long as OEMs are unable to deliver all the new aircraft being demanded, older aircraft will continue to operate and the need for spares will follow. That creates ongoing demand for aircraft parts supply and availability, with stockists and suppliers providing components wherever they’re needed.
We’re seeing new businesses emerge to support this market too. In the UAE, for example, there are now lots of companies offering spare-support services that weren’t there two years ago. I’d expect to see a similar trend developing in Asia as the market grows, with smaller specialist operators looking to provide dynamic solutions for particular customers.
For Artemis, that makes aircraft aftermarket support increasingly important. Whether we’re supporting an aircraft transition, recovery project, teardown or a time-critical component requirement, our role is to help customers find practical solutions in a market that continues to change.
The value of being there
Perhaps the most valuable part of MRO Asia-Pacific for me was simply being there and meeting customers face to face.
I met people I have worked with for years but had never actually met in person, as well as customers and industry contacts based in the region. Those conversations are incredibly useful. You get a much better feel for what businesses are dealing with day to day when you’re sitting across the table from them.
The event also reinforced something I already knew: aviation supply chain resilience comes from having the right relationships, being flexible, understanding the regional market and having the logistics capability to respond when things don’t go according to plan.
I was very impressed by Singapore and by the scale of the aviation activity taking place there. It’s clear that the region is preparing for the next stage of its development, and I’m certainly looking forward to returning.
And then there was Singapore itself. From a cultural point of view, it was a fascinating place to visit. The locals are quite rightly proud of how clean and law-abiding their country is, and the mix of old and new architecture is awe-inspiring. The street food was something to behold too.
