Airbus is looking to the future of aircraft maintenance. Pierre Jaffre, president for Asia-Pacific at Airbus Group, signed a memorandum of understanding yesterday with Tan Kong Hwee, director of transport engineering of Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB), to establish a program intended to develop technologies that will improve the efficiency of aircraft maintenance. Airbus Group CEO Tom Enders, Airbus CEO Fabrice Brégier and EDB chairman Beh Swan Gin attended the ceremony.
The agreement covers the development of a demonstration platform and testbed for addressing the challenges and trends facing aircraft MRO providers. Among these challenges are cost pressures, competition and a rapidly changing business environment. Airbus will assemble a team of 10 experts to collaborate with local institutions to adapt state-of-the-art technologies to the particular needs of the aircraft maintenance industry.
Dubbing the project the “Future Hangar Initiative,” Airbus and its research partners will explore technologies for improving the efficacy and speed of aircraft maintenance and repair, from performing a complete scan of an aircraft when it rolls into the hangar to digital inspections and making parts on-site with 3D printers.
