Like it or not, the success of the big three engine-makers in driving into the aftermarket continues to yield strong results. Many airlines nurse bruised feelings over the total-support deals they signed with the engine suppliers in years gone by, and the continuing revenue-growth of those companies supports the belief that the packages were astutely designed.
GE Engine Services retains its leading position but Pratt & Whitney's strategic focus on aftermarket services saw it post markedly stronger growth, closing the gap on GE and widening its lead over Rolls-Royce which recorded a slight decline in revenues.
Meanwhile Lufthansa Technik turned in another year of strong revenue growth, although driven in large part by Lufthansa's internal requirements. Nevertheless it retained its dominance among the major maintenance providersin a year when the global market is generally estimated to have shrunk by around $1 billion to some $42 billion.
Of the larger players, however, nobody came close to matching the remarkable performance of MTU Maintenance which is reaping the benefits of a corporate prioritising of the servicesbusiness led by Bernd Kessler. He in turn now heads SR Technics which has cemented its position as the world's biggest independent pure-play maintenancecompany with revenue growth of 6.1%.
SR Technics this year closed its Dublin base and trimmed its UK and Switzerland operations, but it is at a turning point and is expected soon to announce plans for a new low-cost location and an expansion into the components sector, laying the ground for further aggressive expansion.
Major US airlines continue to feature high in the rankings, reflecting the high proportion of maintenance carried out in-house. Both US Airways and American Airlines parent AMR turned in double-digit growth.
In Asia, increasing maintenance demand is not yet reflected in the emergence of major players beyond the established heavyweights,Singapore Technologies Aerospace (ST Aero) and SIA Engineering, closely followed by HAECO in Hong Kong. But a growing number of robust east-west joint-ventures in China and India, plus ambitious enterprises in south-east Asia seem certain to make an appearance in the table in due course.
The emerging market in the periphery of Europe is increasingly home to fast-growing maintenanceoperations but they are primarily in the hands of the existing mainstream firms, and new independents such as FL Technics in Lithuania and Dublin Aerospace in Ireland are some way from entering the top rankings. In nearby Turkey, however, the sector looks poised for dramatic growth driven by a fertile combination of low man-hour costs and substantial airline experience.
For now only THY's Turkish Technic makes the list, but if its rival and sometime partner MyTechnic at Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen Airport achieves its ambitious targets then they too will be sure to climb the rankings.
Source: Airline Business
