Airbus takes a great interest in the MRO centre of Thai Airways at U-Tapao airport |
| Romain Guillot |
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16 MAR 2017 | 352 words
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© Airbus |
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Airbus has just signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Thai Airways to evaluate the development of a large maintenance centre at U-Tapao airport, located in South-East Bangkok.
This agreement was signed in Bangkok by Usanee Sangsingkeo, the Acting President of the Thai public company, and by Fabrice Brégier, the President of Airbus Commercial Aircraft, witnessed by the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, Somkid Jatusripitak.
According to this agreement, this future MRO centre could become one of the most modern and most extensive in the Asia-Pacific region, offering heavy maintenance as well as line maintenance for a wide range of types of aircraft. Airbus specifies that the new facilities may be equipped with the latest digital technologies for analysing the aircraft maintenance data, as well as advanced inspection techniques, including the use of drones to monitor aircraft airframes.
The Thai government set the goal of transforming U-Tapao airport into a major MRO hub, and Thai Airways was searching for a major foreign partner to create a JV in the MRO a few months ago, as Charamporn Jotikasthira, the former President of Thai Airways also informed us during the ferry flight of the airline's first A350 to Bangkok. Charamporn Jotikasthira left Thai Airways on 10 February due to an age restriction.
The maintenance facilities of Thai Airways are mainly established in the historic Don Muang airport of Bangkok, as well as in its Suvarnabhumi hub. The company also owns a large hangar at U-Tapao airport, mostly dedicated to the maintenance of single-aisle 737 aircraft. Thai Airways also has several approvals issued by the FAA and EASA, as well as by many countries in the region and in the Middle East.
U-Tapao international airport, located close to the seaside town of Pattaya, shares its facilities with a Thai naval air base. U-Tapao was one of the main air bases of the US Air Force during the Vietnam War, hosting many B-52s. The platform participated widely, for example, in the intense bombardments organised during the Battle of Khe Sanh in 1968.
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Romain Guillot
Chief editor
Cofounder of Journal de l'Aviation and Alertavia
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