Middle East MRO market marches forward at the double

The forecast has come from aviation & aerospace consultancy ICF International at the MRO Middle East conference in Dubai.

Addressing the conference, Richard Brown, Principal of ICF’s Aerospace & MRO Advisory said Middle East based operators currently spend around US $5 billion on their MRO needs, representing 8% of global demand. While global MRO demand is expected to grow by 4.1% per annum to reach US $96 billion, the Middle East market will significantly outstrip the worldwide average.

Brown predicted the strongest demand drivers would be engine and component markets while airframe maintenance would be characterised by reduced labour intensity of checks and increasing intervals.

Within the Middle East, Brown said the region’s robust widebody fleet will be the leading driver of MRO spend over the coming decade. Annual regional demand growth from turbo-props would be just 0.7%; while yearly demand from regional jets would be 1.6%, narrowbody jet demand would grow by 9.4% and for widebodies by 7.1%.

Brown said suppliers are now actively pursuing expressed interest in Iranian MRO opportunities. “Iran will require new MRO capacity, services and capabilities providing significant growth opportunities for suppliers, already peaking interest from leading MROs,” said Brown.