SET TO FLY: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (second left) greets Malindo Airways pilots when attending document exchange agreement between the National Aerospace and Industries (Nadi) Sdn Bhd and PT Lion Group from Indonesia at the Palace of the Golden Horses, Sri Kembangan here yesterday. — Bernama photo
KUALA LUMPUR: The joint venture agreements between National Aerospace & Defence Industries Sdn Bhd (Nadi) and PT Lion Grup Indonesia (Lion Air) will spur the local economy further in line with the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).
The two companies yesterday signed four joint venture agreements in Kuala Lumpur, one of which will form a new airlines, Malindo Airways, in Malaysia by May next year.
The second agreement will see Lion Air and Nadi collaborating to create a joint venture company into maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO).
This MRO company will be a service provider to the entire fleet of 730 aircraft of Lion Air.
This service is under plans to be extended to third party aircraft operators.
The third joint venture is a partnership between Nadi Lion Air to embark in setting up a training school to train pilots, in-flight crew and technical personnel for Lion Air as well as for third parties – filling a much-needed void for talent in the country.
In fact, Boeing once highlighted that the Asian-Pacific region would need 185,600 pilots and 243,500 technicians by the year 2030.
The fourth joint venture is to propose the setting up of a supply chain management company to manage the lease and sale of aircraft parts and components to both Lion Air and third parties.
“The smart partnership formalised today will witness the synergies of resources and expertise between a long-standing and reputable aviation MRO player and the operator of one of the biggest low cost carriers (LCCs) in the region,” said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak during the signing ceremony yesterday.
“Nadi and its subsidiary Airod Sdn Bhd as we know, are well-respected entities in the region’s MRO industry, whereas Lion Air has a fleet of more than a hundred aircraft in operation and hundreds more on order, including the new Boeing 787-Dreamliners,” he stressed.
“It is the kind of innovative and mutually beneficial collaboration that is necessary for survival in the increasingly-competitive aviation business, and greatly required in a global economic environment that is often turbulent and volatile.” To recap, the ETP has introduced several initiatives to further bolster the Malaysian aerospace industry by identifying two Entry Point Projects (EPPs) – namely EPP1: Growing MRO Services and EPP2: Growing Large Pure Play Engineering Services.
By the end of 2020, these two initiatives are expected to contribute RM16.9 billion to Malaysia’s Gross National Income (GNI) and create over 32,000 jobs in the sector.
“With significant experience in airline operations, MRO services, supply chain management and human capital development, Nadi and Lion Air will not only be able to provide quality services to their customers in the region by also to the global aviation industry,” added Najib.
“Furthermore, the partnership will provide the regional low-cost air travel market with healthy competition ultimately benefitting low-cost travellers in both countries.
This will also fortify the aviation business ecosystem in Malaysia and Indonesia,” he concluded.