Singapore Firm to Expand Facility in Clark

According to the Clark International Airport Corp., aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) firm SIA Engineering Co. (SIAEC) will invest close to P1 billion to put up a second hangar at the facility.

The expansion program will allow SIAEC to service the carriers newest Boeing 747 and 777 aircraft. It will also generate an estimated 300 new jobs, while more allied industries may emerge as a result of the investment in the 2,367-hectare Clark air hub.

In a statement yesterday, CIAC president and CEO Victor Jose Luciano revealed that the construction of the second hangar will start sometime this month.

SIAEC will be building a bigger hangar to accommodate wide-bodied aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and 777, he said.

In November 2008, SIAEC, together with joint venture partner Cebu Pacific Air, began construction of the first hangar for the Airbus A320 and A319 aircraft in Clark. This, in turn, paved the way for the further development of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA).

The first hangar cost an estimated P800 million. It started operations in July 2009, providing maintenance service for the Airbus A320 aircraft of various foreign and local airlines.

Starting this month, we will see the development of the second, much larger hangar in Clark, Luciano said. This will generate no less than 300 direct jobs and about 200 indirect jobs for our people in Central and Northern Luzon.

The SIAEC facility is expected to start operations by the end of 2012.

Singapore-based SIAEC is an internationally renowned aircraft MRO company providing total maintenance solutions to wide-bodied aircraft in the service of more than 85 international airlines worldwide. It has 24 joint ventures and subsidiaries across nine countries that form the SIAEC Group.

Its services include airframe, component, engine, and aircraft conversions and modifications.

SIAEC also provides support services at the Changi International Airport in Singapore, as well as line maintenance support services in Australia, the United States, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

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