Southeast Asian MRO competition heats up

Cross-border airline operations scrutinized in Manx2 final report

Singapore is synonymous with MRO in the Asia Pacific. Aviation Week's Lee Ann Tegtmeier reports from the Singapore Airshow.

DUBAI — Lufthansa Technik and UTC Aerospace Systems have expanded their Boeing 787 component agreement to include work on interior products , sensors and integrated systems. Their MRO cooperation for Dreamliner components started in 2011 when UTC appointed Lufthansa Technik a licensed 787 MRO provider. Then in November 2013 the two companies expanded their long-term agreement with a rotable-provisioning and MRO service agreement for UTC-manufactured nacelle components. That agreement covers nacelles on GE and Rolls-Royce engines.

Monarch Aircraft Engineering (MAEL) has completed the retrofit installation of a set of Sharklet wingtip devices on one of the Airbus A321s operated by the group’s airline, Monarch Airlines. A second A321 will be retrofitted at the end of this month.

Singapore is synonymous with MRO in the Asia-Pacific region, but the fast-paced growth of Asia-Pacific airlines is drawing local and global companies to establish aftermarket support entities in Indonesia and Malaysia as well.

UPS set to begin certification trials of active fire-suppression system

This month, the FAA will begin a series of “contaminated” runway tests with a retired Boeing 727 at its William J. Hughes technical center in Atlantic City, N.J. Taxiing on 230-300-ft.-long “test strips” of 2-in.-deep “manufactured snow,” created by feeding ice blocks into a gasoline-powered chipping machine, the 727 will test a variety of new technologies aimed at providing pilots more information and training to deal with compromised surfaces.