The target is seen as ambitious but not impossible, given the region’s rapid growth. Southeast Asia is one of the world’s fastest-expanding aviation markets, with its MRO sector projected to grow nearly 6 per cent annually and reach a value of US$7.6 billion by 2030, up from around US$5.3 billion this year, according to research firm Mordor Intelligence.
Malaysia is already the region’s second-largest MRO provider, but industry leaders warn it must urgently scale up facilities and workforce if it wants to challenge Singapore’s dominance.
“We have capacity issues. That is why we need to build more hangars,” Mahesh Kumar, chief executive of Asia Digital Engineering (ADE), told reporters on Wednesday.
ADE, a subsidiary of AirAsia owner Capital A, operates Malaysia’s largest MRO facility – a 380,000 sq ft hangar at Kuala Lumpur International Airport that can accommodate 16 aircraft. But the site is fully booked until the third quarter of 2026 and currently handles only 70 per cent of AirAsia’s fleet.
