AirAsia Group Consolidates MRO Operations

Malaysia’s AirAsia Group has established Asia Digital Engineering (ADE), a wholly owned subsidiary “to consolidate engineering personnel across AirAsia’s group airlines”. The entity has obtained approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) to start operations which commenced on September 9, 2020. AirAsia will consolidate MRO operations into one entity. Mahesh Kumar Jaya Kumar, AirAsia’s Head of Fleet and Technical Asset Management, has been appointed Chief Executive of ADE. The entity will leverage technology and other digital trends to reduce maintenance costs, increase productivity and efficiency, while maintaining a high level of safety, quality and airworthiness of the fleet. “ADE will be an avenue to earn additional income which will contribute to the overall increase in revenue for AirAsia.” In a separate statement, AirAsia Group indicated that ADE will be based at its global headquarters in Sepang, Malaysia, and targets to reduce the group’s maintenance costs by ten per cent. ADE expands AirAsia Group’s expertise in aircraft engineering, said Chief Executive Tony Fernandes. “This new business division provides numerous efficiencies and will leverage off our combined 19 years of experience in operating and maintaining a large fleet of over 250 Airbus A320 and A330 family aircraft.”