Analysts: Commercial aerospace and MRO to grow rapidly in Thailand over next 20 years
NewsOctober 16, 2017
BANGKOK. At a recent aerospace industry seminar, analysts Frost & Sullivan and Suranaree University -- in association with The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) -- discussed a projection from Frost & Sullivan that in the next two decades, 42 percent of the 32,146 global aircraft deliveries will happen in Asia-Pacific, while delivery of total aircrafts in Thailand alone is expected to almost triple from 314 aircrafts in 2017 to 811 aircrafts by 2037.
According to Frost & Sullivan's projections, the increase will be due to rapid growth in passenger traffic, which will rise from 60 million unique passengers to 180 million unique passengers by the end of 2037. The rise in passenger traffic, aircraft departures, and the aircraft deliveries in Thailand indicate the growing importance of Thailand’s aerospace industry, which creates enormous opportunities in maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) and manufacturing sectors.
The Frost & Sullivan research predicts that the $6.3 billion gap that will exist in the Thailand MRO market in the next 20 years will create significant business opportunities for the aerospace MRO companies. The analysts believe that a total of 7,700 new technician and engineering jobs will likely be created in the commercial MRO space over the next 20-year period from 2017 to 2037. Over the projected time period, the market gap of $6.3 billion would be enough to accommodate almost three new full-fledged MRO companies -- similar to Thai Airways Technical Department -- that can serve MRO services demand locally in Thailand.
In his presentation -- "Growth Prospects of Aerospace Manufacturing & MRO Industry in Thailand" -- Amartya De, Associate Director of Aerospace & Defense, Frost & Sullivan mentioned, “The Thailand aerospace sector is expected to grow rapidly due to expansion in airline fleet size in Thailand and neighboring countries. This coupled with the rising trend of the migration of commercial MRO activities to the APAC [Asia-Pacific] region is creating new job opportunities in ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations].” He also compared government initiatives and policies in emerging countries with those of Thailand, which need to be further improved to compete with the global markets in the region.
