Airbus Group is looking to the future of aviation with an innovative new concept for aircraft maintenance.

Pierre Jaffre, President Asia Pacific at Airbus Group, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tan Kong Hwee, director for transport engineering of Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB), to establish a program to develop technologies that will improve the efficiency of aircraft maintenance.

The result of the agreement will be a unique demonstration platform and test bed for developing solutions to the challenges and trends facing aircraft maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) entities. These challenges include cost pressures, increasing competition and a rapidly changing business environment. Airbus Group will assemble a 10-strong team of experts to collaborate with local institutions to adapt state-of-the-art technologies to the particular needs of the highly regulated aircraft maintenance industry.

Dubbing the project the Future Hangar Initiative, Airbus Group and its research partners will explore technologies for improving the efficacy and speed of aircraft maintenance and repair – everything from performing a complete scan of an aircraft when it rolls into the hangar to digitized inspections and employing 3D printers to make spare parts on site.

“The effort will focus on leveraging on the latest technology trends that have emerged in recent years, in particular the digitalization of the shop floor,” said Jaffre. “These technologies will help maintenance engineers and technicians to access relevant information on demand, which will save tremendous amounts of time lost with more traditional MRO best practices and technologies.”

Echoing the importance of innovation, Tan Kong Hwee said: “To maintain our competitive edge in MRO, Singapore is committed to working with companies to innovate and develop technologies for use in hangars and facilities. This program with Airbus Group will leverage the strengths of our aerospace ecosystem, and is an example of how aerospace companies can partner with Singapore to develop and test innovative solutions to boost productivity and enhance competitiveness.”