CHINA'S thriving aviation market and its lower labor rates have created opportunities for the nation to become a potential aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) hub.

The country has become an attractive market for MRO players, both local and foreign firms, since domestic carriers pledged to triple their current fleet size in the next two decades and international airlines opened more services to the world's fastest growing aviation market.

The global MRO market was valued at US$37 billion in 2005 and the size will be expanded to US$55 billion in 2015, according to forecasts by Team SAI Consulting. Demand for MRO will grow by an annual three to four percent.

China will apparently outpace global growth with an expected annual rate of 13 percent until 2015 followed by 9.5 percent in India.

The two markets combined will be valued at US$4.8 billion in 2015, accounting for one-third of the total US$14.5 billion of the whole Asia-Pacific region, according to industry estimates.

MRO costs account for between four to 16 percent of an airline's operational costs in the Asia-Pacific region. Many international carriers closed their own MRO capabilities and outsourced it to third-party MRO firms in Asian nations to scale back costs.

The Chinese mainland needs more than 3,000 passenger aircraft and freighters from 2006 to 2025 amid strong economic growth and booming air-travel demand, aircraft maker Airbus SAS said in a report published last month.

Source:佚名