INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta - The domestic aircraft maintenance industry has grown by nine percent over the past five years, the Director General of International Industrial Defense and Development (KPAII) I Gusti Putu Suryawirawan said.

"With the high growth, the aircraft maintenance industry is a promising business, therefore it should be able to be utilized as well as possible," said Putu through his statement in Jakarta on Friday (2/2/2018)

Putu conveyed, several airports that have the potential to develop this industry are the International Airport Sultan Hasanuddin Makassar and International Airport Frans Kaisiepo Biak (Papua).

The existence of MRO industry in these two airports is quite important to streamline the cost of maintenance.

"Not only aircraft, this MRO can be used for helicopter treatment that became one of the main air transportation of eastern Indonesia," he said.

He added that the steps to be taken by the government is to facilitate and inform investors about the potential of this business in Indonesia.

"There are several MRO industries that have been integrated with airports, such as in Bintan and Kertajati," continued Putu.

Meanwhile, Director General of Metal, Machinery, Transportation and Electronics Industries at the Ministry of Industry, Harjanto, stated that the potential of MRO industry in Indonesia will reach US $ 2.2 billion in 2025, a significant increase compared to 2016 of US $ 970 million.

This is in line with government efforts that spur the development of domestic aviation services industry since 2000 so that its performance has grown in the last decade.

"Our MRO industry is increasingly competitive, now providing various aircraft maintenance services, including airframes, instruments, engines, radios, emergency equipment and line maintenance," he said.

Harjanto said, in 2016, the world's airlines spend 72.81 billion US dollars for aircraft maintenance.

Of this value, North America became the largest contributor of 21.2 billion US dollars, followed by Europe around 20.7 billion US dollars and Asia Pacific 13.3 billion US dollars.

"In 2025, the world's aircraft maintenance market is expected to grow by 3.9 percent growth to 106.54 billion US dollars, while Asia Pacific will grow 5.8 percent compared to North America 0.9 percent and Europe 2 , 35 percent, "he explained.

Meanwhile, according to Harjanto, MRO companies in Europe and North America began to focus on high-tech and capital-intensive industries.

As for the maintenance services of aircraft classified as labor intensive, will be submitted to other parties.

"This condition will provide opportunities for the MRO industry in Asia Pacific including in Indonesia," he said.

Business opportunities, need to be captured by the national MRO industry that currently number 32 companies, incorporated in Indonesia Aircraft Maintenance Service Association (IAMSA).

To that end, the Ministry of Industry together with all relevant stakeholders continue to collaborate in order to further enhance the competitiveness of the national MRO industry.

The strategic steps that need to be done in supporting it, among them is the development of industrial human resources, the development of an integrated industrial park, the fulfillment of quality standards, and strengthening the aircraft component industry.

"We will have more intense discussions with aircraft manufacturers, especially Airbus and Boeing in order to establish Aircraft Engineering Center in Indonesia," said Harjanto.