‘Catching sunrises’: ST Engineering’s commercial aerospace head sees more tailwinds for the business

详细摘要

Opportunities for its MRO services include ramped-up plane deliveries and China’s Comac, says Kevin Chow

Opportunities for its MRO services include ramped-up plane deliveries and China’s Comac, says Kevin Chow

[SINGAPORE] Kevin Chow, the president of ST Engineering’s commercial aerospace business, is bullish on the segment’s outlook, describing what he calls the business’ agility to be able to “catch sunrises”.

One example he gave was the group’s work with the Leap engine, which is produced by CFM International, and used on the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 Max.

ST Engineering is licensed by CFM International as a premier maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) provider for its Leap-1A and Leap-1B engines. MRO is a key revenue driver for the group’s commercial aerospace business.

The Leap-1A is used for the Airbus A320neo, while the Leap-1B is for the Boeing 737 Max. Chow calls these “sunrise platforms” due to the high volume of these planes being delivered.

“If you go by CFM’s numbers, more than 10,000 engines have been delivered. And CFM themselves, when they look at the growth rate, they are pretty bullish,” he said in an interview with The Business Times.

In October, data from Airbus and Boeing showed the plane manufacturers delivering 55 units of the A320neo and 32 units of the Boeing 737 Max, respectively. For context, there are two Leap engines each on the A320neo and 737 Max.

More of these planes are expected to be continually delivered as commercial plane deliveries are still backlogged, driven by a combination of pandemic-era supply chain disruptions and growing post-pandemic demand.

Yet, the backlog also works in ST Engineering’s favour, as airlines still have to keep older planes in the air to meet demand, and older engines that are in service will also generate MRO demand, according to Chow.

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