Completion of Maintenance Hangar in Sacheon Capable of Servicing 100 Aircraft Annually... Gyeongnam MRO Project on Track

Aerial view of Korean Air Service commercial aircraft maintenance hangar.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Ju Cheol-in] A new civil aircraft maintenance hangar has been completed in Sacheon, Gyeongnam, marking a significant step forward for the Gyeongnam Aircraft Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) industry.

Gyeongnam Province announced on the 17th that it held a completion ceremony for the new civil aircraft maintenance hangar at the Sacheon Korea Aviation Maintenance & Engineering Services (KAEMS) facility.

In response to the increasing maintenance demand due to the expansion of low-cost carriers and to shift aircraft maintenance demand previously dependent on overseas sources to domestic facilities, the province, together with Sacheon City and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), applied to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for an aircraft maintenance business license in July 2016 and was designated as an aircraft maintenance business operator in December 2017.

Subsequently, KAEMS, a specialized aircraft maintenance company, was established in Sacheon, and in June last year, a dedicated aircraft maintenance industrial complex was launched in the Yongdang-ri area of Sacheon-eup. After about 1 year and 4 months since groundbreaking, the new civil aircraft maintenance hangar of KAEMS was completed.

The province expects that with the completion of this new civil aircraft maintenance hangar, the maintenance capacity, which was about 30 aircraft annually, can be expanded to 100 aircraft. Next year, they plan to obtain certification for aircraft maintenance capability from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which is expected to further accelerate the aircraft maintenance business.

Previously, in November 2018, KAEMS received certification from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for maintenance capability on the B737 model and performed its first aircraft maintenance in February last year.

Additionally, in September of the same year, KAEMS obtained certification for B737 aircraft maintenance capability from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), actively pursuing maintenance contracts from low-cost carriers (LCCs) and solidifying its position as a leading domestic aircraft maintenance company.

At the completion ceremony, Park Jong-won, Deputy Governor for Economic Affairs, stated, “We expect the aircraft maintenance industry to grow alongside the complete aircraft market as a major pillar of the aviation industry, and hope Sacheon will lead the future growth of Gyeongnam’s aviation industry at its center.”

Meanwhile, the province plans to launch a “Field-tailored Aircraft Maintenance Workforce Training Support Project” starting next year to establish a human resource foundation for fostering the aircraft maintenance industry.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.