2020 Asia Pacific Infrastructure Report

PUBLISHER'S NOTE
This is the 3rd edition of our Infrastructure Report, which has quickly
grown into one of our most popular and widely read reports. As
always with all our publications, each year we try to make them
better and more informative, and the 2020 Infrastructure Report is
no different. This time around we have coverage of all Asia-Pacific
commercial and GA airports, including, for the first time, airstrips.
Also, with our yearly in-depth research, our historical database
continues to grow, meaning that ASG can present an ever-higher
level of accuracy.
Looking back at 2020, the year has been spent under COVID-19.
For us here in Asia, the first cases were reported in mid-December
2019, which was followed by the lockdown in Wuhan on January
23, 2020. Any business plans or budget we had for 2020 were
consequently being rewritten by CNY and in February, we were all
pivoting to “2020 Ver. 2.0”.
Not too surprisingly, this did not include making substantial
investments in new FBOs throughout the region. Just two new
facilities opened in 2020 – one in China and one in India – and the
only big announcement during the year came in October, when
Bombardier and JETEX said they will partner on a new FBO in
Singapore.
The 2020 Infrastructure Report also has several special features
this year. We delve deeper into the impact of COVID on the MRO
industry; examine the issue of FBO parking and hangarage; and
finally, discuss the various airframe and engine maintenance cost
programs in the market.
On the MRO side, there was even less activity as far as new facilities.
But after 2019 when Dassault acquired Execujet’s MRO operations;
Jet Aviation completed the integration of Hawker Pacific; and
Bombardier announced plans to quadruple the size of its service
centre in Singapore, this was not too surprising – any year would
be a slow down after 2019 in the Asia-Pacific region. COVID also led
to most airports slowing down their expansion plans, thus indirectly
impacting MRO growth as well.
Last but not least, we have ACTSI, Comlux, Dassault, Execujet,
Gama and Salus Aviation graciously sharing with us their insights
and views on the industry pre-COVID, in the current climate, and in
the not-too-distant future.
The most interesting stories of 2020 regarding MROs were how
most facilities used the time to increase their capabilities, i.e.
becoming better by increasing their number of OEM and jurisdiction
authorizations. The mix of maintenance requirements also changed
through the year. With flight activity curtailed, less line maintenance
was performed and more heavy maintenance & checks were
undertaken, which consequently led to a satisfactory year for most
facilities in the end.
Sincerely,
Jeffery C. Lowe
Chief Executive Officer, Asian Sky Group
2 | 2020 INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT