Aerospace prospects fly high with more contracts in the pipeline
07 Jun 2022
The Malaysian aerospace industry sees an encouraging prospect for its business and operation this year as Covid-19 pandemic is entering its endemic stage.
National Aerospace Industry Coordinating Office (Naico) head Prof Shamsul Kamar Abu Samah said that industry players target that the Malaysian aerospace sector will achieve nearly to Covid-19 pre-levels.
“We are looking at achieving what we have achieved prior to the pre-Covid in 2019 — at least nearly to that stage for this year,” Shamsul Kamar told The Malaysian Reserve.
According to him, Malaysian aerospace is gradually recovering in 2021, supported by the easing of movement restrictions and reopening of most sectors.
“Basically, we are doing very well. During the Movement Control Order last year, we are one of the sectors that were allowed to operate, particularly in aerospace manufacturing and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO),” he said.
However, there is no doubt that restrictions will affect any businesses. For instance, aerospace faces hurdles in maintaining its contract due to the pandemic.
“We have some difficulties with regards to maintaining our contract strength as the requirement is a bit low compared to before the pandemic, but we still continue to serve our clients,” he noted.
The national aerospace development agency said that they saw a reduction in the aerospace output between 30% to 40% last year.
Nevertheless, the endemic provides a boost in aerospace industry’s confidence as its business and operations will go into full capacity.
“So, there will be quite a number of MRO activities that will be conducted not only for Malaysia, but also for our regional clients, together with the activities for general aviation and the military,” he said.
Moreover, Naico also managed to attract more original equipment manufacturers this year and encourage industry players to actively pursue new contracts.
“We have started to see some new projects secured by our companies, be it aerospace venturing or MRO.
“The way we see for aerospace manufacturing, there will be new products produced by Malaysian companies starting from 2023 onwards,” he added.
Moving forward, Shamsul Kamar is optimistic on Malaysia’s aerospace prospect as Naico is in the middle of securing new work packages and MRO projects this year.
Additionally, several Malaysian aerospace players are on the right track to expanding their businesses this year as they secured new projects during the Singapore Airshow in February.
“For instance, Asia Digital Engineering Sdn Bhd (Capital A Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary) will build up new MRO facilities in Sepang, Selangor, and of course, there will be new investment from this — if everything goes well, Asia Digital Engineering will be one of the biggest players in the region,” he said.
Besides, Naico has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with MHB Aviation Consultants Ltd at the Singapore Airshow which is expected to see quadruple business activities in the Subang airport.
“This is another good news to us, where we can see that the component of MRO activities will be extended to support the heavy MRO companies in Malaysia and the region,” he said.
Meanwhile, SIA Engineering Co has signed a non-binding MoU with Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Impeccable Vintage Properties Sdn Bhd to potentially lease two hangars in Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, Subang, Selangor.
“So, we get new investments from this and if everything goes well, we anticipate that aerospace engineering companies will be able to bring more clients to the Subang airport,” Shamsul Kamar further said.
He foresees that the local aerospace players will benefit from all the upcoming projects as long as they are willing to expand, go to the next level and enhance their ability in IR4.0 technologies.
Source: The Malaysian Reserve
