Korean Air Lines(003490) is teaming up with Thailand's state-owned aircraft maintenance specialist TAI to make a full-fledged entry into the Southeast Asian aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) market. TAI is a corporations that oversees the maintenance of the air power operated by the Thai military.
Korean Air Lines and TAI signed a terms agreement (TA) for comprehensive cooperation in aircraft MRO business on the afternoon of Jan. 2 at the Korean Air Lines Tech Center in Gangseo District, Busan. The signing ceremony was attended by Cho Hyun-chul, head of the Korean Air Lines military aircraft business division, and Piboon Worawanpricha, TAI chief executive, among other key officials from both companies.
The two companies first agreed to cooperate on depot-level maintenance of the UH-60 "Black Hawk," the Thai Army's main helicopter. Depot-level maintenance is maintenance, repair, reassembly, and performance improvement work aimed at sustaining weapon performance. They plan to expand the scope of cooperation to a variety of military aircraft owned by the Thai military going forward. Korean Air Lines will also support TAI with standardizing military aircraft maintenance processes and technical training.
Korean Air Lines and TAI believe that combining Korean Air Lines' world-class military aircraft maintenance technology with TAI's unrivaled maintenance network and infrastructure in Thailand will significantly improve the operational readiness of the Thai military's air power. Building on this, they aim to enter the Southeast Asian aircraft MRO market.
A Korean Air Lines official said, "This collaboration will spread the excellence of K-MRO that Korean Air Lines has across Southeast Asia and will be an important opportunity for the two companies to grow together in the Southeast Asian aircraft MRO market."