Philippines MRO company Dornier Technology is looking at growth opportunities in areas like end-of-lease checks, after clinching FAA certification.
The company, which is based at Clark airport, received approvals from the FAA for heavy maintenance work on the Airbus A320 family aircraft, covering both A320neos and A320ceos.
It is a new milestone for the 17-year-old company, which currently holds certifications from regulators in countries like the Philippines, Indonesia and South Korea.
For Dornier’s chief executive Nick Gitsis, the importance of the certification cannot be understated: “This allows us to bid for more work…not just from the local carriers, but also in the Southeast Asian region in particular, because we [are] close enough that it still makes sense for them to bring [their aircraft] over.”
Gitsis spoke with FlightGlobal following news of its FAA certification.
Airframe maintenance makes up about 65% of the company’s work, with line maintenance making up the remaining 35%. Heavy maintenance checks are done at its main MRO facility at Clark airport - located north of the capital Manila - while it has line maintenance capabilities at airports across the country, including Cebu, Davao and Manila.
Line maintenance is “an important stream of revenue” for Dornier, but “the core of our business” is in base maintenance, and will be an area of long-term growth, Gitsis tells FlightGlobal.
With FAA certification the company is looking to expand into end-of-lease checks and is “talking to” several lessors, and “planning some work in the near future”.
MROs taking on end-of-lease checks are usually required to have FAA and/or EASA certification. “It [now] puts us on the capability list…and on the radar for [more] airlines to give us a chance to take on work for them,” he states.
Beyond new markets, Gitsis is also keen to grow the number of foreign airline customers, including those in the USA, like Hawaiian Airlines, whose “geographical location…is close enough where they can still bring their aircraft to us”.
‘STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE’
Indeed, like other Philippines-based companies, Gitsis is keen to emphasise the geographical advantage of the country.
The Philippines is near to Northeast Asia - compared to other Southeast Asian states - and therefore gives companies like Dornier access to a large market.
“Because of the evolving aviation scene in Southeast Asia, with thousands of planes on order from so many carriers, not only in the Philippines…and those aircraft will need maintenance,” Gitsis says, calling the Philippines’ proximity to so many countries a “strategic advantage”.
Another advantage for Dornier is the abundance of manpower in the country.
As Gitsis puts it: “Literally…the MROs around the world are powered by Filipinos.”
Yet, the advantage of an abundant workforce is also a potential challenge for Dornier. Gitsis says: “Experience is getting sucked up by the Middle East in particular, and…other countries are also looking to Southeast Asia.”
To this end, Dornier is looking for a “good balance between retention and growth”.
Gitsis says that part of the company’s manpower strategy is to recruit back Filipinos from overseas, noting that this move has been met with some levels of success.
“We’ve had [some employees] who have left… because they want to go make some money. They’ll go for four or five years, but then they want to come back.”
“And you know, we’re there with open arms whenever someone comes back,” he adds.
The returning employees “come back with an international exposure and experience” which helps the MRO provider in return.
Gitsis also keenly emphasises that while Dornier is smaller in size - it has a workforce of around 250 employees - it is “an independent, growing MRO”.
“I think that [this] type of company like ours is important because it fills many needs that other [MRO providers] might not be able to do. When you have an airline-backed MRO, they’re very focused on just the airline…and we cater to a lot of smaller [operators] that can’t go out and build out their own MROs as part of their strategy,” he tells FlightGlobal.
The near-term outlook augurs well for Dornier, Gitsis believes.
“The demographic of the Philippines…[and] how many travelers per year is growing in a good clip. [Airlines] are going to need more planes and more capability, and all of that will support this burgeoning industry,” he adds.
