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Asian Sky Group

Data Services

Press Release

Issued by Asian Sky Group.

September 5, 2017

Asian Sky Group's Asia Pacific Infrastructure Report highlights need for change

Hong Kong business aviation consulting company Asian Sky Group (ASG) has released its inaugural Asia Pacific Infrastructure Report. Showcasing the region's need for more business aviation infrastructure, the report details and analyzes the number of fixed-base operators (FBOs), maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facilities, and international airports considering growing passenger traffic and increased aircraft fleet sizes.

“ASG's Infrastructure Report highlights one of the industry's greatest challenges,” says ASG managing director, Jeffrey Lowe. “Within the next two years alone, Beijing, Manila and Singapore will reach runway capacity. Hong Kong is already over capacity. Terminals are no better with eight of the top 11 airports in Asia already classified as 'full'.” Lowe continues: “An important element of a healthy, sustainable business and general aviation industry is the required infrastructure to support it. By clearly showing current numbers and capacity, the report defines the aviation industry's most significant infrastructure issues, in hopes of tackling them.”

Highlights of the report include:

- There are 1,017 airports in the Asia-Pacific region, including airports with paved runway of 5,000 feet or greater length. 61 fixed-base operators (FBOs) serve the region's growing number of business jets, along with 205 maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) providers for fixed-wing and helicopters, operated by 188 FBO and MRO companies.

- Overall, the Asia-Pacific region has 21 factory-owned service centers and 93 authorized service centers. A unique feature of the MRO market in Asia Pacific is the number of country aviation authority approvals needed to service or provide maintenance on an aircraft registered there or in an offshore jurisdiction.

- Hong Kong faces the most severe over-capacity issue in the region. With 130 business jets based in the city and an influx of traffic from around the world, the international hub is underserved with only one FBO, four fixed-wing MROs, one piston helicopter MRO and limited parking capacity.

- Australia is the most-developed market, in terms of infrastructure, reflecting a mature market that more closely identifies with the US and Europe, rather than that of the Asia-Pacific region. The country has 249 airports, 19 FBOs, 34 helicopter MROs and 14 fixed-wing MROs.

- Singapore's Seletar Airport is primarily dedicated to business and general aviation, adjacent to the Seletar Aerospace Park home to both OEM factory-owned service centers from the likes of Rolls Royce, Bombardier and Textron, as well as major independent MROs like Hawker Pacific and Jet Aviation, with multiple OEM service center authorizations and numerous country approvals. Singapore's Changi Airport is the other airport located on the island, handling commercial traffic.

- China does not yet have the institutional capability to perform heavy checks, with consistency, and suffers from tax issues on parts importation, but is still expected to grow as an MRO center, as its fleet ages and its capability improves. China currently features several developing MRO service centers, including factory owned MROs from Gulfstream in Beijing and Bombardier in Tianjin, while Hawker Pacific Shanghai provides authorized service center work for Falcon and Cessna aircraft.

- In terms of passenger traffic, Beijing Capital International, Haneda International in Tokyo, Hong Kong International and Shanghai Pudong airports are among the top regional airports exceeding passenger traffic and runway capacity. Indonesia (Halim - Jakarta), Thailand (Don Muang - Bangkok) and Malaysia (Subang - Kuala Lumpur) are country-specific examples of secondary airports in major cities that cater to business jets and helicopters, where the primary airports have an excess of commercial traffic.

Adding knowledge and insight to the report, ASG spoke with some of the foremost regional experts who added commentary on the general state of infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region and how respective companies are handling this growing issue. Included is an in-depth article, contributed by aviation consultant David Best, discussing the status of the region's infrastructure, compared to the more developed US market. Also featured are numerous profiles include leading regional FBO Hong Kong Business Aviation Centre (HKBAC), operator and maintenance provider Metrojet, global business aviation company Jet Aviation, Bombardier Business Aircraft and its Singapore service center, and China-based ground handling company Fastransit.

The Asia Pacific Region Infrastructure Report will be available digitally, in English and Chinese. For copies of all ASG's reports, please visit www.asianskymedia.com.