SIA Engineering opens new facility to service next-gen jet engines

SIA Engineering yesterday opened a new $9 million facility in Changi North to provide basic maintenance services for French company Safran's aircraft engines.

The 1,945 sq m space will process about 60 CFM Leap-1A and Leap-1B engines each year and has the capacity to deal with a surge of up to 50 per cent in peak periods.

The company anticipates growing demand for the relatively new, next-generation CFM Leap engines that are used for the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 Max narrow-body planes. As at December last year, 3,971 of these engines are in service, with more than 19,000 orders in the pipeline.

The new facility enhances Singapore's capabilities as a maintenance, repair and overhaul hub, and Mr Ng Chin Hwee, chief executive of SIA Engineering, said the company hopes to extend its services to more engines.

"The opening of this facility is significant as an expression of our confidence in the recovery of the aviation and aerospace industries in Singapore and this region," he said.

"This aircraft engine service facility is among the first engine maintenance, repair and overhaul shops in the region to provide enhanced engine maintenance services for these next-generation engines.

"It provides the added capabilities and capacity for SIA Engineering Company to cater to the anticipated increase in demand for quick-turn maintenance and shorter engine turnaround."

He declined to say how much the deal with Safran is worth, owing to commercial sensitivities.

The facility had already been planned pre-pandemic in 2019, but its opening was delayed until now - coinciding with the ongoing Singapore Airshow.

Services provided are intended for quick turnaround, or quick turn in industry parlance, so that the engines can be put back into the planes as soon as possible.

These include disassembling, assembling and some routine inspections, which together would take about 30 days.

Parts that need more complicated repairs will have to be sent to a workshop in Chengdu, China, and would lengthen the process.

SIA Engineering's pre-flight testing facilities for the engines should be available by the third quarter.

Mr Stefan Schmuck, senior vice-president of SIA Engineering's engine services, said the new facility is expected to create about 100 jobs when fully operational.

A lot of the processes will be automated, from robots that carry the engines in and navigate via sensors to cranes that move the engines into their allocated bays.

At each point in time, 12 engines in various states of assembly and disassembly will be able to fit into the space.

As the engines mature and more work is required, the space will likely have to be expanded, said Mr Schmuck.

Ms Lim Ai Ting, JTC Corporation's director of aerospace and marine cluster, said the new facility is a sign of the industry's confidence in its recovery.

"We are expecting more facility expansions and openings in Changi and Seletar Aerospace Park this year," she added.