Fighting for middle ground

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01 November 2005

Demand for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities in the Middle East is set to expand significantly over the next few years. External MRO providers are eager to win their share of the enlarged market but they will face tough local competition. Alison Tucker reports.

This year Middle Eastern airlines have ordered more than 250 new aircraft, including 51 A380s. Privately owned start-up and budget carriers operating in the region, such as Kuwait's Al Jazeera and Iraq's Buraq airlines, will also push up aircraft numbers. Demand for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities is therefore set to soar in the next decade.

The Middle East accounts for 3.9%, or $1.4 billion, of global MRO demand, and David Stewart, managing director of UK consultancy Aerostrategy, predicts this to grow by nearly 6% per annum over the next 10 years.

Gulf state airlines' aggressive expansion programmes are leading the growth.

While some airlines in the Middle East are able to service fully their own aircraft, the tradition among most Middle Eastern airlines has been to carry out some maintenance in-house, and outsource their engine and heavy maintenance requirements to third-party MROs providers.

Foreign MRO providers...

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