Aerospace Sector in Thailand to Create Over 10,000 Jobs by 2037

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The Thailand Aerospace sector is expected to grow rapidly due to expansion in its fleet size and the rising trend of the migration of Commercial MRO activities to the APAC region, creating new job opportunities. The aviation industry in Thailand has seen the emergence of a number of new players over the past few years and the commercial MRO sector currently has around 3,750 technicians and engineers.

“As demand in the Thailand aerospace industry continues to grow rapidly, the supply side of the industry will have to expand in order to cater to this increasing demand. Thailand’s key to success in developing its aerospace manufacturing and MRO industry is its availability of skilled labour. MRO activities are especially reliant on skilled labour as certification and qualifications are a prerequisite for MRO personnel to conduct maintenance and repair activities,” said Nishant Dey, Consultant at Frost & Sullivan.

He continued, “A total of 7,700 new technician and engineer jobs are expected to be created in the commercial MRO space over the 20-year period from 2017 to 2037. While approximately 4,000 people will be employed in the sector by the end of 2017, the number is forecasted touch 10,000 by 2035. About 90% of these new jobs are for technicians while engineers make up the remaining 10%.”

Frost & Sullivan in collaboration with the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) will be hosting a complimentary breakfast briefing on growth opportunities in Thailand's aerospace industry on the 19th September 2017 in Bangkok, Thailand from 8.30am – 12.00pm.

In the aerospace manufacturing domain, Thailand’s expertise is currently in Tier 3 and Tier 4 manufacturing for original equipment manufacturer (OEMs). The total export value of this industry was around US$ 1437.29 million in 2015. At the end of 2016, the aerospace manufacturing sector in Thailand employed about 7,976 people.

“While this sector is forecasted to grow at a more subdued pace than the MRO sector, job creation in the manufacturing sector is expected to reach 10,395 over the next 20 years. The total number of new jobs created is estimated to be around 2,419 in the period from 2017 to 2037,” said Nishant.

Aerospace MRO and manufacturing are highly global industries and migration of MRO services or manufacturing of parts can take place anywhere in the world where capacity is developed with adequate certifications and quality control in place in collaboration with global players.

“Thailand can reap the benefits of this global supply chain in the aviation industry and can help generate around 10,109 new jobs over the next 20 years, taking the total workforce in the industry from 11,726 at the start of 2017 to around 21,835 in 2037,” said Nishant.

He added, “The key concern, however, remains in how global MROs & OEMs collaborate with local aviation training schools to bring in the right expertise and curriculum, delivering internationally accepted certified workforce to cater to Thailand, the rest of ASEAN, and beyond.”

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