Strong inbound passenger traffic from Korea benefits country’s MRO firm

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY-- The sudden recovery of inbound passenger from Korea has benefitted the country’s maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) firm Dornier Technology that has won contracts for line maintenance from three Korean low-cost carriers, Air Busan, Air Seoul and Jeju Air that have resumed services to the Philippines.

Air Busan is operating from Seoul Incheon to Kalibo, the gateway to the Philippines’ famous resort island of Boracay using Airbus A320s and A321s.  Air Seoul is also serving the route, using A321s while Jeju Air is operating from Seoul Incheon to Bohol’s Panglao International Airport using Boeing 737-800s.

Joseph Espiritu, Dornier Technology chief operating officer said, the Philippine market is very strong for Korean carriers, because it is a popular leisure destination in close proximity to peninsula Korea.

“Filipinos like to travel and we have many good destinations to explore here in the Philippines. Now that there are no travel restrictions, people are taking the opportunity to travel again,” he added.

There are also many Koreans living in the Philippines so the airlines benefit from having a mix of leisure and visit friends and relatives (VFR) traffic, the VFR traffic was the first segment to recover from the pandemic, Espiritu said.

He explained that Korea’s close proximity to the Philippines means Korean carriers are mostly serving the Philippines using short-haul narrow body aircraft such as A320s and 737s and Dornier Technology is popular with foreign carriers because it is the Philippines’ largest independent MRO organization.

“We serve multiple international and domestic airline customers. We have achieved cost savings through ‘economies of scale’ and are able to pass on those savings to our customers, making us a very price competitive line maintenance organization,” Espiritu bared.

Espiritu said that Dornier Technology has a depth and breadth of experience, which means it can serve airlines that operate different aircraft types. It can also provide value-added services, such as warehousing and logistics for aircraft spare parts.

Dornier Technology has nearly 200 employees and plans to increase its workforce to 250 by year-end to meet the growth of its line and base maintenance business. The company does airframe heavy maintenance, otherwise known as base maintenance, at Clark International Airport outside Manila.

Dornier Technology has nine-line maintenance stations: Bohol, Caticlan, Cebu, Clark, Davao, Iloilo, Kalibo, Manila and Puerto Princesa and it operates at Hangar 7224, Civil Aviation Complex, Clark International Airport, Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga 2004, Philippines.

Espiritu bared that besides the rebound in international inbound passenger traffic, Dornier Technology has also benefited from the strong rebound in domestic passenger traffic which is now higher than pre-COVID levels.

Dornier Technology’s domestic line maintenance customers include Airbus A320 operator Royal Air and ATR operators AirSwift and Sunlight Express.  Espiritu said that Dornier Technology aims to open a 10th line station this year and by the end of 2025 it will have 15-line stations in the Philippines.

Besides maintenance, Dornier Technology provides technical training, aviation consulting services, fleet management, engine support and maintenance of aero systems, such as avionics, Espiritu added. (Photos: Dornier FB/Google Images)