JTC signs S$500m in deals at Singapore Airshow 2020

JTC Corporation signed S$500 million worth of agreements at the Singapore Airshow 2020 on Tuesday with aerospace companies that will be expanding their operations in Singapore over the next five years.

The agreements are with GE Aviation, Overhaul Services – Singapore; SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC); Singapore Aero Engine Services (SAESL); Ametek MRO; GE Aviation, Engine Services - Singapore; Pattonair; and RLC Group (Singapore).

Among them are new facilities and an expansion of existing operations. JTC said in a statement that the agreements will expand the aerospace ecosystem and supplier networks as well as strengthen Singapore’s position as a global aerospace hub.

GE Aviation, Overhaul Services – Singapore, a joint venture between GE Aviation and SIAEC, is setting up an engine overhaul facility at a newly-levelled site at JTC's Loyang estate, JTC said, adding that this facility will use digitisation and data analytics to enhance productivity.

SIAEC has meanwhile identified JTC’s Changi North estate as a potential site for its facility for CFM LEAP-1A and LEAP-1B engines. This follows SIAEC's earlier agreement with Safran Aircraft Engines to provide engine maintenance services. JTC said the facility will adopt the latest engine maintenance and quick-turn processes in its operations.

SAESL, a joint venture between SIAEC and Rolls-Royce, is exploring an expansion in JTC’s aerospace enclave in Loyang estate, although no details are available yet. SAESL is the world's largest Rolls-Royce Trent aero engine maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility and Trent centre of excellence, serving more than 30 airlines across the world.

Seletar Aerospace Park will also be home to new entrants.

This includes independent aerospace distribution firm Proponent, which will open a 20,000 square foot (sf) regional distribution facility there later this year.

Paint supplier PPG is setting up a 38,750 sf application support centre at the cost of US$15 million, which will be the company's largest investment to date in South-east Asia. To be completed by mid-2020, the centre will accommodate increased demand for aerospace sealants, coatings, transparencies, chemical management services and the packaging of third-party products, JTC said.

Bombardier is in the midst of quadrupling the footprint of its Singapore Service Centre, which will make Seletar Aerospace Park home to its largest OEM-owned business maintenance facility in the region, JTC said.

Several other firms remain in discussion. Ametek MRO has commenced additional capability investments and is discussing future facility requirements with JTC, JTC said. The recently merged Pattonair and Wesco Aircraft, a global aerospace and defence supply chain provider, is also looking to secure new premises at Seletar Aerospace Park, while RLC Group (Singapore) is looking to lease an additional facility there, JTC said.

"The series of new facility openings and expansions is a vote of confidence for JTC estates and Seletar Aerospace Park. The Park is just over a decade old and has already attracted over S$1.5 billion of investments," JTC chief executive Ng Lang said.

At the Airshow, JTC also launched aeroSpace Three, a new cluster of nine ready-built standard factories to provide “plug and play” solutions for aerospace manufacturing and MRO activities.

The statutory board also said it will be embarking on the next phase of land preparation works in Seletar Aerospace Park this year to create more capacity for future aerospace investments.