Thailand as Regional MRO Base

At the heart of Asia, Thailand is a full-service aerospace hub and major player in the region’s multi-billion dollar aircraft maintenance and manufacturing industries. With the Asia-Pacific region expected to be the largest air travel market in the world within the next decade, Thailand is positioned to become a crucial player in the Asian aviation industry.

On April 4, 2016, Ms. Ajarin Pattanapanchai, Deputy Secretary General of Thailand Board of Investment, organized a BOI Seminar of Business Opportunities in Thailand “MRO & Aviation Opportunities in Thailand” for the U.S. aerospace and aviation industry to learn more of the trend of MRO opportunity in Thailand.

Honorary Consul-General of Thailand in Dallas, Mr. Forrest Smith, gave his welcoming remarks on his role to promote Thailand for U.S. businessses and people in Dallas. He stands ready to support and facilitate U.S. business people and tourists for acquiring visas to visit Thailand.

Ambassador Pisan Manawapat as a keynote speaker on “Fast Paced Developments in Thailand & the ASEAN Economic Community”, reiterated Thai’s advantage of logistically situated at the heart of the region.  The growing tourist destination and business growth in ASEAN that will increase capability of people to fly. Thailand is the hub of the region and has capacity to expand Maintenance Repair and Operations (MRO) and related industries. Thai Government is committed to reform the country toward stability, prosperity and sustainability.

Mr. Joe Greenwood, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Triumph Group Inc. told his success stories choosing Thailand as the company’s foot print in the region.  He shared views on how his company valued ease of doing business and cost of doing business for a successful business operation. He also mentioned why Thailand is attractive as follows;

• Land acquisition allowed for US owned companies.
• World class infrastructure and transportation networks.
• Six international airports and major deep sea port.
• Multiple Free Zones, Full Logistics, Frequent shipping options.
• Access to qualified workforced from aerospace, electronics, automotive, and oil/gas industries – including engineers.
• Cost of Living half of Singapore (Bangkok ranked 45th vs Singapore 2nd – Mercer 2015 survey).
• Quality of Life is good (Schools, recreation, Cultural, Healthcare) – ranked 7th in latest HSBC Expat Explorer survey.
• Political events had no impact on operations – business as usual.

Bangkok’s airport is 15th busiest in the world, and is one of seven international airports in the country. The Boeing Company forecasts a market for the Asia-Pacific region of about 8,960 new airplanes for the 2009 to 2028 period, worth $1,130 billion.

US companies like GE, Chromalloy and Triumph have already made significant investments in Thailand to take advantage of the country’s ancillary electronics and automotive industries that also provide developed and available suppliers for cost-effective and efficient production.

Air passenger movement in Thailand has been growing at an average annual rate of 4.4%. Suvarnabhumi, one of the major aviation facilities in the country, is the sixth busiest airport in Asia, handling 47.8 million passengers in 2011. It is also ranked 20^th in the world for cargo traffic. According to The Boeing Company, over coming years the Asia-Pacific region will enjoy the world’s highest rate of growth in passenger air travel. As cargo and passenger volumes continue to accelerate, investment opportunities in the Thai aircraft maintenance industry will likewise become more lucrative.

Major Thai airlines include Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways, Thai AirAsia, Nok Airlines and Orient Thai Airways. More than half of the aviation activity in Thailand is undertaken by these five airlines.

For more information, please contact BOI New York Office