Indonesia’s Aircraft Maintenance Services Association (IAMSA) estimated the country’s MRO market at around US$1 billion. However, only 45 percent of this demand is handled by local players. The rest of the business goes to neighbors Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan.

Domestic players for MRO services, or the workshops to ensure aircraft’s airworthiness for passenger and cargo transportation, include state-owned flag carrier Garuda Indonesia’s GMF Aero Asia and Lion Air Group’s Batam Aero Technic. There’s also the only foreign investor in the MRO business in the country, FL Technics Indonesia from Lithuania.

“Based on the history of the last five years, the growth of Indonesia’s MRO market is higher than the growth of the capacity and capability," said IAMSA chairman Rowin H. Mangkoesoebroto during the 7^th Aviation MRO Indonesia Conference in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Indonesia stands among the top-10 largest air passenger markets in the world and is expected to be a standout performer, climbing from the 10^th largest aviation market in 2017 to the fourth-largest by 2030, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Tourism is one of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s top priorities as the government targets to welcome 20 million foreign travelers to Indonesia by the end of this year, more than twice as many as in 2014, when the President began his first-term administration.

Given the growing demand for air travel and air cargo in Indonesia, domestic MRO players should accelerate capacity and capability development by collaborating with foreign MRO service providers to build more products and lines, Rowin added.