Aircraft Maintenance Repair and Overhaul Market Study. - OBSA

In considering future investment or expansionplans, businesses are able to apply for RSA underthe current regime. As RSA applications can coverplanned investment and related jobs over a numberof years and, irrespective of the changes effectivefrom 1 January 2007, RSA offers issued before then,including those involving capital investment and jobsbeyond that date, will be dealt with on the basis ofcurrent rules.The consequence of these changes means that thereis a great deal of urgency in preparing for any newproject, with it being necessary to have the planningprocess advanced to a decision point well before theend of the current year.4.5 Interview ProcessThis section is not available for publication. The confidentialityof the companies who agreed to take partwas guaranteed and therefore it is not proposed topublish their comments.The main concerns in the industry are downtime,quality and cost. There is a lot of interest in findingnew solutions, especially by utilising MRO facilitiesin Asia. Three of the interviewees expressed varyingdegrees of interest in a Glasgow MRO base whileonly one of the five dismissed the possibility out ofhand.4.6 Conclusions and Next StepsGiven the scale of the market, MSP Solutions believesthat a Glasgow MRO facility would be bestplaced to look for business maintaining narrowbody aircraft of European airlines. There may alsobe some opportunity for smaller wide body aircraftsuch as B767, B787 and A350. It is unlikely that Glasgowwill be able to compete for business servicingthe larger wide bodies (A380, B747) as the marketsize will be smaller and the investment in resourcesmuch greater.The interview process shows that there are companiesthat would consider using an MRO facilityat Glasgow. At this stage, the companies involvedwish the discussions to remain confidential, but ifthe Sponsors wish to develop proposals, a numberof target organisations can already be identified.A new MRO facility must meet the main concerns ofthe industry, i.e. downtime, quality and cost. It is essentialthat these concerns are recognised and addressedat all stages of developing a plan and in theimplementation.The suggested steps are:• Decide on and define clearly the physical area tobe released for the MRO facility. In reaching this decisionit will be vital that there is adequate room fora 4 bay facility with room for further expansion at alater date (defined outline MRO facility).• Clarify, and if possible agree with the existing operatorsat Glasgow, what is to happen to them andthe sites they occupy at present. Of particular concernhere must be the continuity of current work.• Attempt to reach a consensus with other maintainersat other Scottish airports that they eitherrelocate or at the least do not attempt to competedirectly with Glasgow.• Assuming that we are correct in our conclusionsthat no one else is likely to commit to a capital investmentfor a new facility it is considered advisableto identify a number of potential tenants first.• Evaluate the costs (capital expenditure on buildings,equipment and infrastructure, working capitalto recruit and train the personnel, other pre-operatingexpenses), income streams representing a realisticearning potential of the defined outline MROfacility.• Evaluate the economics of outline project takinginto account the income streams, costs under a varietyof financing options.28STRAIR Aircraft Maintenance Repair and Overhaul Market Study. Glasgow International Airport.