Vietnam Airlines (VN, Hanoi Noi Bai International) and ST Engineering are exploring the possibility of establishing an airframe Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) in Vietnam. The Joint Venture (JV) MRO aims to take advantage of Asia Pacific's increasing needs for such services, as the region's in-service fleet is expected to grow by 4.5% (compound annual growth rate) over the next 10 years.
The JV will operate out of the Vietnamese carrier's existing facilities located at Hanoi Noi Bai International and Ho Chi Minh City and will also provide services for third-party airlines. As ST Engineering is the world’s largest commercial airframe MRO provider by maintenance manhours, the JV will utilise its marketing networks and MRO expertise to attract customers.
“The establishment of a joint venture will bring more aircraft and added value to Vietnam," Duong Tri Thanh, President & CEO of Vietnam Airlines, said in a joint statement. "Likewise, it will help to improve the technical level of the domestic aircraft maintenance industry as well as the competitiveness of the national airline. Together with STEA and other potential airline partners around the world, we believe that this joint venture will stimulate and strengthen the Vietnamese job market and aviation industry."
“Following the setting up of our first MRO component facility in Vietnam in June 2019 [Vietnam Singapore Technologies Engineering Aerospace], this new joint venture will help to expand our offerings to include component and airframe MRO for our customers,” Lim Serh Ghee, President of ST Engineering's Aerospace sector, said. “Collaboration with trusted customers like Vietnam Airlines will be a strong factor contributing to our success as we will continue to increase our network of facilities to capture opportunities in the region.”
ST Engineering provides support to a broad customer base that includes airlines, airfreight and military operators across a global network of facilities in North America, Asia Pacific and Europe. As such, its hangars are capable of accommodating 44 widebodies, 26 narrowbodies and 24 general aviation aircraft simultaneously.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Vietnam Airlines operates a fleet of 101 aircraft comprising of forty-seven A321-200s, twenty A321-200neo, fourteen A350-900s, three B787-10s and eleven B787-9s. Its subsidiary VASCO - Vietnam Air Services (0V, Ho Chi Minh City) also operates another six ATR72-500s on its behalf.
