Malaysia's ADE sees boom in aircraft repairs amid new plane shortages

The global aircraft repair industry will see more growth in the next six years as airlines keep flying their jets longer because of a shortage of new planes, said Mahesh Kumar, the CEO of Malaysia-based aviation services firm Asia Digital Engineering (ADE). New deliveries have dropped sharply in recent months amid supply chain disruptions and rising labour costs, driving carriers to retain aircraft maintenance, repairs and operations (MRO) services for longer to keep older planes in the air, Mahesh said. "It's a boom for the MRO business," he told Reuters in an interview on Monday. ADE, a unit of Capital A, which also operates budget airline AirAsia, has seen rapid growth since it began operations in September 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company, which conducts line maintenance as well as more comprehensive base maintenance checks, in 2023 doubled its annual revenue to 574m ringgit ($122.91m), amid a surge in flying activity. Its slots are fully booked until the end of 2025, including at its new 14-line maintenance hangar near Kuala Lumpur International Airport that will be Malaysia's largest when it opens in August, Mahesh said.<br/>While AirAsia remains its biggest customer, ADE expects to attract more third-party airlines and expand its services to cover a wider range of aircraft, including potentially Chinese planemaker COMAC, which aims to rival Boeing and Airbus.<br/>