MASE which has done the stripping and painting for AirAsia X’s livery for its two leased A340s hopes to broaden the company’s business relationship with the airline by securing the maintenance contract for the A340 and the A330-300. MASE is also aggressively marketing its services to tap the global MRO market for A340 aircraft.
MASE is the pioneer MRO service provider for Airbus A330-300 heavy maintenance in Asia. Th e group says the transition to the A340 capability would be short for MASE engineers and technicians as they would only have to go through a differences course.
With several customers already secured for Airbus A320 maintenance work, MASE has submitted bids for the contract for the AirAsia Group of airlines’ A320 fleet. MASE acquired the capability for the A320 two years ago.
The group comprising of Kuala Lumpur-based AirAsia, Th ai AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia currently operates a total of 50 A320s. Another 125 A320s will be delivered to the three airlines over the next five years. AirAsia X has 25 A330-300s on order with two already delivered.
MASE managing director Mohd Roslan Ismail says the company is expanding capability to include B767s as it is a huge market to tap with Japan Airlines, Qantas and several carriers in the US operating big fleets.
“As the aircraft is still in production it makes business sense for us to tap the market,†Roslan notes.
MASE’s other heavy maintenance capabilities include B747, B777, B737- NG, B737-400F50 and passenger-to-freighter conversion for B737-300QC aircraft.
The F50 capability may be dropped in the near future as the aircraft is out of production and spares are extremely difficult to be sourced. With the dramatically declining cargo market, MASE is finding it difficult to market its services for the 737-300QC aircraft.
The MASE component workshop is equipped to carry out repair and overhaul for components for the above aircraft types. It also has the capability for repair and overhaul for B737-400 landing gear and offers aging aircraft modifications, corrosion prevention programmes and cockpit/ cabin upgrading.
For the B747 it also covers the pylon and Section 41 modification. MASE also performs installation of blended winglet system for 737NG aircraft and offers Lap Joint Modifi cation as per Boeing SB 737-53A1177.
MASE says the modification demands critical expertise and experience in maintaining the aircraft in zero stress throughout the work period.
More 3rd party capacity
To enable MASE to have sufficient capacity at its maintenance base at Subang for third party work, the company moved its ‘C’ check for MAS fleet of 37 B737-400 aircraft to KLIA three years ago. Last year C checks for B747-400, B777 and A330 aircraft for all MAS aircraft were moved to KLIA paving the way for more capacity for third party work at Subang.
MASE has five wide-body and six narrow-body bays at Subang with one bay for stripping and painting. At KLIA the capacity is for two wide-body and two narrow-body aircraft.
Roslan believes MASE engineers’ competence, its track record as a MRO service provider and the lower labour costs – though it is increasing – would be important factors in MASE securing and turn around times are critical factors in securing business.
“MASE turnaround times have surpassed industry standards and this is a strong selling point for us,†Roslan says.Heavy maintenance for a B747-400 was achieved in a record 26 days by MASE. Industry standards are anything from 32-40 days.
In Asia alone there are several big companies offering MRO services but it does not deter MASE from competing against them for the business.
MASE has 31 certifications including Federal Aviation Authority, European Aviation Safety Agency, Civil Aviation Administration of China and Civil Aeronautics Board. Among its 80 customers are Lufthansa, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Nok Air, Oman Air, Jet Airways, ILFC and GECAS.
MASE is in the process of making a decision to invest in an Enterprise Resource Planning system to integrate the engineering operations which will cover plant maintenance, scheduling, financials and materials management. ERP will replace the existing Stacker Retrieval System and the Total Engine Reporting System.
Roslan is confident that despite the global economic crisis and the decline in demand for air cargo and travel which is hindering the growth of the MRO industry, MASE revenue will increase about 18 per cent to RM520 million (US$144.1 million) this year.
Last year revenue more than doubled from RM216 million in 2006 to RM438 million.