Dornier targets customer base expansion in APAC

PHILIPPINE aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company Dornier Technology on Monday said it is targeting to further expand its customer base in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, as the aviation industry is now starting to recover from the global health crisis.

“We are looking to grow the business and capture especially the Asia-Pacific market,” Dornier Technology’s newly appointed chief operating officer, Joseph M. Espiritu, told Business World in an e-mailed reply to questions.

“We are already reaching out to potential customers and working to get more approvals from overseas regulators,” he added.

Dornier Technology is certified by the civil aviation regulators of the Philippines, South Korea, and Indonesia. The certification allows it to maintain aircraft registered in these countries.

The company is looking forward to also working with Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, China and other Asia Pacific airline operators, he noted.

Dornier Technology’s operations in the Philippines are headquartered in Clark.

“The pandemic has brought challenges to all players in the aviation industry, but due to our strategic location in the Philippines (being situated in Clark Air Base), the impact is minimized,” Mr. Espiritu said.

Sydney-based aviation think-tank Center for Asia-Pacific Aviation (CAPA) has said the MRO industry in the Asia-Pacific region is projected to experience a “temporary capacity crunch when airlines return more of their fleets to service” after the coronavirus pandemic.

“However, the longer-term capacity outlook is brighter as MRO providers are keeping facility expansion plans largely on track.”

CAPA pointed out that the region’s major MRO providers have seen a “significant dip in business” as a result of airlines parking large numbers of aircraft and deferring heavy maintenance.

“But demand could spike quickly when coronavirus restrictions ease, with many Asia-Pacific airlines needing MRO providers to help reactivate aircraft that have been in storage for several months.”

Mr. Espiritu said the aviation industry is now “growing” and that the Philippines has skilled and qualified maintenance engineers and technicians.

Aircraft that the company supports include turboprop aircraft from ATR and De Havilland Aircraft and narrow-body aircraft such as the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 family. —