Malaysia wants to become Asia's jet maintenance hub
Saturday, September 22, 2007
THE government plans to turn Malaysia into a regional hub for aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul, said Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.
He said this had been outlined by the Malaysian Aerospace Council chaired by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
"Suitables areas for MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) activities have been identified. They would not only involve Malaysia Airlines (MAS), but also other parties like Eurocopter which operates a similar facility for helicopters here (Subang)," he told reporters after opening the MAS Engineering Training Centre in Subang here yesterday.
Najib said the move to establish the centre and related training programmes for Felda youths were among the strategies to attain the government's objective.
The METC, he said, had obtained international certification, with 30 per cent of its business coming from international airline operators.
He said Malaysia was ranked fifth in Asia and tenth in the world in terms of maintenance, repair and overhaul capability.
Najib said besides civilian aircraft, Malaysia was also able to perform maintenance, repair and overhaul work on foreign military planes through Airod Sdn Bhd.
"So our hub will be unique because it'll be able to handle civilian and military planes as well as helicopters," he said.
Earlier, in his speech, Najib said MAS should enhance its engineering prowess which was the backbone of the airline's operations.
"Engineering capability to support MAS must be second to none. There is a need to embrace the culture of precision and excellence. Now, everything is calculated in micro and you need precision to have the competitive edge," he said.
Bernama
He said this had been outlined by the Malaysian Aerospace Council chaired by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
"Suitables areas for MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) activities have been identified. They would not only involve Malaysia Airlines (MAS), but also other parties like Eurocopter which operates a similar facility for helicopters here (Subang)," he told reporters after opening the MAS Engineering Training Centre in Subang here yesterday.
Najib said the move to establish the centre and related training programmes for Felda youths were among the strategies to attain the government's objective.
The METC, he said, had obtained international certification, with 30 per cent of its business coming from international airline operators.
He said Malaysia was ranked fifth in Asia and tenth in the world in terms of maintenance, repair and overhaul capability.
Najib said besides civilian aircraft, Malaysia was also able to perform maintenance, repair and overhaul work on foreign military planes through Airod Sdn Bhd.
"So our hub will be unique because it'll be able to handle civilian and military planes as well as helicopters," he said.
Earlier, in his speech, Najib said MAS should enhance its engineering prowess which was the backbone of the airline's operations.
"Engineering capability to support MAS must be second to none. There is a need to embrace the culture of precision and excellence. Now, everything is calculated in micro and you need precision to have the competitive edge," he said.
Bernama
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