SEPANG (March 12): Sepang Aircraft Engineering Sdn Bhd (SAE) is targeting to conduct its 700th scheduled aircraft heavy maintenance check (C-Check) by the end of 2019.
Its chief executive officer Raymond Lim said the group is able conduct 120 such checks a year as part of its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business.
"There are different types of checks, C-Checks are pretty high maintenance checks on the aircraft, and there are light checks and heavy checks. The light checks require less time, while the heavy checks require more time," he told reporters during a media tour at its premises today,
Lim said the group, which is owned by French aircraft maker Airbus, conducted slightly less than 100 C-Checks last year, while it has conducted around 570 C-Checks to-date.
As part of its goal to hit its 700th C-Check this year, SAE is looking to further increase its workforce to 720 high-skilled employees by year end from 600 high-skilled employees currently.
In terms of revenue contribution, Lim said close to 70% is derived from scheduled maintenance works, about 10% to 15% from component repairs and the rest is from painting works.
He added that depending on the complexity of the design requested, the group could paint a plane between seven and 12 days.
As the MRO outfit does not operate 24 hours a day and with its current opening hours, it has a utilisation rate of 90%, he said.
When asked if SAE is looking at increasing its utilisation rate further, he said the group is looking to further increase some of its production efficiencies through the potential implementation of new technologies such as drones and scanners.
Based on Airbus' market outlook, the Asia-Pacific region would require 20,000 commercial aircraft over the next 20 years and 7,000 aircraft are currently in service for the region, said Lim.
SAE currently focuses on MRO operations for Airbus' A320 Family and ATR propeller plane series.
The group also houses regional spare parts inventory of the A320s, A330s and A380s for Airbus' flight hour services.