Aircraft MRO services in Malaysia are important in the world of aeroplanes for a reason. What do you think happens when a plane isn’t regularly maintained, cleaned and repaired when needed? A recipe for another disaster in the skies is mixed and it will be tomorrow’s headlines in the newspapers.

MRO simply stands for Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul. It is not only important for aviation industries, but also extends to others utilizing flying vehicles as part of their services. Most airports around the world house their own MRO facilities on-site to maintain their own airplanes.

Depending on the required type of service, there are some that require MRO services to be delivered at airports, and some others need the services done off-site. 

As an example, on-site MRO can be done when it is time for the planes to go through routine inspections, daily check ups or regular troubleshooting. However, if parts of the planes such as radios, avionics and other removable components need servicing, they can be taken out and be sent out for off-site MRO services.

Three letters

The three letters, MRO, are defined as follows.

Maintenance is about keeping planes up to pristine shape. There may be no failures to observe, but they are still maintained regardless to reduce the chances of malfunction in the skies, which can turn a pleasant air trip to a death trap for both crew and passengers.

Repairs are needed when a part of a plane is faulty, such as a broken window, engine failure and an unresponsive panel. The complexity of a plane’s parts and integrated software makes repairs more important to be kept in mind and immediately done the second a fault is detected.

Overhaul is about replacing worn aircraft components with new ones. Wear and tear is inevitable, so at some point, the plane must be dismantled and said parts are inspected and reassembled. This method also allows surface and internal inspections and serves as a vital element of an aircraft’s lifecycle management and enhancement.

MRO Facilities

Besides in house MRO facilities for commercial airlines, there are several MRO facilities utilized today. One of them is an independent repair station, which are small establishments servicing certain airplanes, or large companies that can cater to many kinds of flying vehicles, even others like drones and rotaries.

Fixed based operators (FBO) offer various utilities such as aircraft refuelling and parking for resident and transient airplanes. They are based in airports and house their own MRO facility.

For smaller or regional airlines, their approach to MRO slightly differs from international or large ones as their activities are smaller in radius, in addition to possessing smaller vehicles and fewer flights. Rather than housing their own facilities, they offer lease spaces to FBOs in big airports.

Similarly to commercial airlines, corporate flight operators also house their own MRO facilities. They usually hire a crew of mechanics to exclusively maintain their own aircrafts.

You probably wonder if military aircrafts like helicopters or jets also have their own MRO zones to maintain and repair their arsenals. You aren’t far from the truth. The services and facilities of defensive MROs would be no different from commercial airlines, except their birds harbor sensitive equipment and they carry big boomsticks.