Thailand desires to take over Singapore’s dominance in aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul with a $5.7 billion upgrade to a Vietnam War-era airport.
In February this yr, the Ministry of Transport of Thailand presented a development plan for 2017–2031 divided into three stages.
The first phase, covering the period now to 2021, will concentrate on constructing a brand new maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) center for Thai Airways.
The second phase will concentrate on further expansion of this MRO center by 2026, and the third phase will concentrate on expanding Thailand’s aerospace design and manufacturing capabilities.
Sikorsky Aircraft owned by Lockheed Martin Corp. is the most recent company to explore a possible increase in MRO spending in Thailand following the planned upgrade of U-Tapao International Airport, said Ajarin Pattanapanchai, deputy secretary-general of the country’s Investment Board. In March, Airbus SE signed an agreement with Thai Airways International Pcl to judge the event of MRO facilities at a civil-military airport near Bangkok.
“It’s quite a difficult situation in Singapore right now,” Ajarin said in a May 25 interview at Bloomberg’s Toronto office, during a visit to Canada to boost investment. “To catch up with airline demand in the region – especially new demand from Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia – and given that we have strengths in the automotive and engineering industries, Thailand will be the second choice for an MRO hub.”
The airport project is a component of the Thai government’s goal of stimulating an economy whose development has lagged behind its neighbors because the military took power three years ago. It can also be a key element of the plan to take a position 1.5 trillion baht ($44 billion) between 2017 and 2021 in the event of the country’s east coast.
U-Tapao International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport serving the cities of Rayong and Pattaya in Thailand. It is situated in Ban Chang District, Rayong Province.
It also serves as U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airport, home of the Royal Thai Navy’s First Air Wing. Thai Airways’ large maintenance facility is situated in U-Tapao, servicing the airline’s aircraft in addition to those of other customers.
Due to the blockade of Bangkok airports by opposition protesters, between November 26 and December 5, 2008, U-Tapao briefly became the primary air gateway to Thailand. With each of Bangkok’s international airports, vital to the country’s tourism boom, running at capability since 2015, U-tapao specifically has been seen as a substitute international gateway attributable to its relative proximity to the capital.
