2023 MRO Conference Presentations

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Opening Remarks from Aviation Week Network

• Juliet Trew, VP Business Development - Commercial/A&D, Aviation Week Network

Forecast Presentation: Key Trends and Topics for the Region

• Brian Kough, Senior Director, Intelligence and Custom Solutions, Aviation Week Network

Opening Panel Session: Engage with Regional Dynamics and Key Developments

With current geo-political developments, the global situation remains uncertain. How has this changed maintenance trends and strategies? How will the re-opening of China affect the supply chain? Is this market coming back as anticipated and what traffic trends are we seeing? Can we expect more ambitious steps to be forthcoming and how will the MROs respond? Is there enough capacity? Is there a circuit breaker to change or improve strategies so we don’t keep repeating the same mistakes and suffering from delays? What adjustments are the OEMs making to respond to airline needs?

• Moderator: LeeAnn Shay, Executive Editor MRO and Business Aviation, Aviation Week Network
• Kean Shuh Foo, EVP of Operations and Chief Sustainability Officer, SIA Engineering Company
• Mahesh Kumar, CEO, Asia Digital Engineering
• H.E. Sarah McGrath, Ambassador of Ireland to Singapore, Embassy of Ireland, Singapore
• Gerald Steinhoff, CCO, HAECO

Airline Keynote

• Michael Hickey, Group COO, Vietjet Air

Finding New Opportunities in an Evolving Market

With returning traffic and fleet growth in Asia Pacific, how do we anticipate local facilities will cope with MRO support for regional operators and is there capacity for international interest? Will regional stakeholders add more capabilities inhouse to grow business and control processes in house to cope with returning demand? To what extent will new opportunities come in the form of capacity and capability expansion and how do MROs expand at sustainable levels?

• Moderator: Joshua Ng, Director, Alton Aviation Consultancy
• Eric Ai, VP of Airlines Asia-Pacific, Honeywell Aerospace
• Rakesh Dixit, VP and Head of Engineering Services, Air India
• Dennis Kohr, SVP Corporate Sales- Asia Pacific, Lufthansa Technik
• Gonzalo Salazar, VP - Product Development and Strategy Asia, Triumph Product Support -Asia (TASA)
• Tan Eng Shu, EVP and Head of Aerospace MRO, ST Engineering

Continuing the Conversation: The Prospect of India

After a huge wave of orders, will India and the APAC region be ready to accommodate the MRO workload associated with that growth? What are the current capabilities in region – will they be able to sustain that fleet as the market matures? What opportunities might there be for international MROs? What supply chain, lead time or capacity problems are anticipated and where is infrastructure lacking? Who is moving in and capitalizing on opportunities in the region already? What is the business focus and strategy from OEMs?

• Moderator: Dr Vasudevan S, Senior Director and Head of Aviation, Travel and Tourism for India and APAC, ICF
• Dr Surinder Kumar Bansal, VP of Engineering, IndiGo
• Anand Bhaskar, MD and CEO, Air Works
• Ashok Gopinath, President, GMR Aero Technic

Building Resilience in the Supply Chain

What are the OEMs doing to support the aftermarket with supply chain challenges? How have market players had to adapt and how has it affected business strategies? What disruption have they faced? How can regional players support their parent companies in Europe and US to navigate these ongoing issues? What work can be done with sub-suppliers to strengthen supply chains?

• Moderator: LeeAnn Shay, Executive Editor MRO and Business Aviation, Aviation Week Network
• James Bennett, CCO, AerFin
• Katherine Rivera, Technical Operations Department - AVP, Philippine Airlines
• Daniela Serafini, VP of Customer Services and Ho FHS, Airbus
• Jingyuan Sun, VP of Customer Account Management, SR Technics
• Aziz Yunus, Head of Component and Warehouse Services, Asia Digital Engineering

Believe in us! Retaining Talent

Addressing the issue of confidence from the general public: What needs to take place to improve perceptions of stability and excitement in the industry? Developing local talent and retaining expertise in the face of competition from overseas is imperative: How can we solidify and demonstrate the benefits of staying within the region? What are people looking for and what strategies are working? How important is improving diversity and inclusion to the workforce challenge?

• Moderator: Amrul Zeflin Anim, Senior Advisor - Capital Projects and Infrastructure, PwC
• Amira Amirudin, Director of Training, APR-Aviation Training Centre
• Fenella Jefferson, General Manager, Bostonair APAC
• Sarah Samuel, Board Member, Women in Aviation International, Singapore
• Mangesh Thapa, Technical Director, Buddha Air

Understanding the Needs of a Growing Leasing Market

About half of the commercial fleet is leased and expected to grow further by sale-and-leasebacks (SLB) by airlines. While the maintenance responsibility is with the lessee, there will be off-lease periods, repossessions, and default situations. What are the maintenance needs by lessors and what are their expectations of the aftermarket? How can we expect this to alter the dynamics of the MRO market?

• Moderator: Richard Brown, MD, NAVEO Consultancy
• Chris Gruener, EVP and Head of Technical, BOC Aviation Limited
• Yip Hin Meng, EVP and Head of Aviation Asset Management, ST Engineering
• Paul Nation, MD- APAC and Overseas Business, Xiamen AirLease
• Andrew Thie, Head of Technical, Bellinger Aviation

 What is the Future of the Regional Cargo Market?

Asian freighter MRO demand is projected to account for 14% of the worldwide air cargo MRO demand and is anticipated to grow faster than most regions over the next 10 years. Get an update on cargo conversions and understand the state of the market in Asia-Pacific.

• Moderator: Mike Stengel, Principal, AeroDynamic Advisory
• Audrey Cheong, VP Southeast Asia Operations, FedEx
• Marco Isaak, Group Chairman, Asia Cargo Network
• Vasuki Prasad, Sales Director Asia Pacific- Commercial Aviation, Embraer
• Dr. Marc Szepan, GM, Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Company (GAMECO)

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Opening from Aviation Week Network

• Juliet Trew, VP Business Development - Commercial/A&D, Aviation Week Network

Day 2 Keynote- Securing HAECO's Future: Navigating Change and Embracing Sustainability

• Sandra Nieuwenhuijzen, Group Director Components and Engine Services, HAECO Group

SAF: More Challenge than Solution?

To lower emissions, the industry needs alternatives to fossil fuels. As we consider Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), cost and infrastructure challenges are significant. What will we realistically have in place in five years and how will this be achieved? How will LCCs commit to SAF and where will the investment come from? Understanding the cost of Sustainable Aviation Fuel and how we may be able to bridge the gap.

• Moderator: Rahul Shah, SVP Strategic Growth, Business Development Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, AAR Corporation
• Aakash Bhatnagar, VP Flight Operations- Support, IndiGo
• Abhi Bhuchar, Head of Consumer and Industrials, South East Asia, and Energy and Natural Resources, Asia Pacific, Oliver Wyman
• Jacqueline Lam, Regional Lead for Sustainability Policy and Partnerships- Southeast Asia, Boeing International
• Ee Pin Lee, Key Account Manager, APAC Renewable Aviation, Neste Asia Pacific
• Cyrille Schwob, Head of Research and Technology Development APAC, Airbus 

 Aero-Engines Focus: Durability, Shop Capacity and Investing in the Future Powerplant

Durability problems on new delivery engines are causing significant issues for operators. There is an increased demand for quick turn and inventive maintenance solutions to keep the existing fleet on wing for longer. How are MROs adapting to this challenge and balancing their shop capacity? Considering fuel savings against the cost of unplanned maintenance, what are the views of fleet planners on operating new equipment? How are the OEMs responding to market pressures and balancing their investments in the in-service fleet against future developments?

• Moderator: James Pozzi, MRO Editor EMEA, Aviation Week Network
• Francesco Baccarini, Area Manager APAC, SGI Aviation (Asia) Pte Ltd
• Janice Ho, Airline Sales Director, Asia-Pacific, StandardAero
• Christopher Rodrigues, SVP of Sales and Marketing- Asia, SMBC Aero Engine Lease

Managing High Pricing and Costs

Cost control and pricing is a huge stressor across the industry. As prices increase, what is the impact on the aftermarket and how are these being leveraged and absorbed? What are we seeing in the short and long term in terms of parts pricing and in the shops? How is this being managed? How are OEMs approaching these cost increases?  How is inflation and price increases affecting airline behavior and strategies?

• Moderator: Ken Herbert, MD, RBC Capital Markets
• Kin Chong, EVP, Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corporation
• Jefferson Ding, Founder and MD, Dragon Aviation Capital
• Desmond Goh, MD- Asia Pacific; Aerospace Group, Eaton Aerospace
• Ian Wolfe, Airline MRO and Fleet Management Consultant, IJW Aviation MRO Consulting Services

State of the Repair Market

How is the repair market around the world being supported, how is it picking up and what does that mean? Is the market still under capacity constraints and how long can we expect this to last? What impacts do we expect on the USM market? Do we already see a stabilization on the OEM repair supply chains and does this have an impact on the availability of OEM and USM parts? When do we expect relief?

• Moderator: James Pozzi, MRO Editor EMEA, Aviation Week Network
• Tommy Hughes, CEO, VAS Aero Services
• Ryan James Manuel, AVP of Engineering and Maintenance, Philippine Airlines
• Bernd Riggers, SVP of Component Services Division, SIA Engineering Company
• Iain Rodger, MD, GE Aerospace
• Shevantha Weerasekera, VP of Engineering and Maintenance, Cebu Pacific Air

Closing Keynote

• Sisira Dash, CTO, Air India