from a MASTER fabrication group with forty years of experience in VIP aircraft.
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This is the most exciting time for the aviation industry in Asia and the Middle East. It’s the happening place, an emerging market that cannot be ignored. Eventually, it will reach a point where no OEM or major supplier can afford not to have a presence in the region.
- Dr Praveen Srivastava - August. 2022
The higher the number of private aircraft - more the opportunity for aircraft interior refurbishment centres. Based on my study, a private aircraft is partially or fully refurbished every 6 years in this region, so the chances of an aircraft undergoing full interior refurbishment during 4 or 8 yearly inspection is very high. Most regional charter operators and first-time private aircraft owners are buying pre-owned aircraft (in the 4-5 years old range), hence the market size of aircraft interior refurbishment industry in the Middle East and Asia should continue to grow at 20 - 25% per year, for next 4 - 5 years. This is the right time to create join ventures, strategic alliances and collaborations between the OEMs and suppliers from the west and local distributors in the east to tap the opportunities in this region.
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JCF: The company you founded, AeroChamp has been around now since 2018. I Think you have four separate business verticals now. You must be proud of that growth. Can you give our readers a better sense about the breadth of your service and product offerings – and what your goals are in the coming decade?
PS: We started AeroChamp with a very clear vision - to offer products and services locally to the interior refurbishment centres, MROs, airlines and private aircraft operators in the Middle East and Asia. My journey into the aircraft interiors industry began way back in 2006 by representing a leading US based aircraft passenger seat manufacturer. I was fortunate enough to close very significant deals and capture a market share of more than 35% in the passenger seat sector. Slowly I developed expertise in business jet interior refurbishment and leveraging my background in material science and a PhD in aircraft maintenance, I was able to offer product and application solutions to the interiors sector. This established me as an aircraft interiors specialist in both the Asian and Middle East markets. Having setup 4 interior refurbishment facilities by now and having developed a good personal rapport with the global aircraft interiors fraternity, I cam to recognize a gap between the OEMs and suppliers from the US and Europe, and the fast growing aircraft interiors industry in this region. AeroChamp was established to fill that gap by utilizing our localized expertise and our seasoned experience in the aircraft interiors industry at large.
It gives me a sense of satisfaction that we have been able to achieve a few milestones in our endeavor to establish a strong supply chain by bringing the OEMs and suppliers closer to the customers (interior refurbishment centres and MROs). However, there is a long way to go and our dream is to facilitate every product or services provider in the aircraft interiors industry to reach their potential customers in this region, via AeroChamp, as an access point.
AeroChamp offers flexible options to the manufacturers, suppliers and services providers to utilize our expertise and customer base to expand their market reach in the Middle East and Asia. AeroChamp has a strong base of more than 800 customers from Turkey to Australia and New Zealand – and covering the whole of the Middle East, Asia and Oceania. We are strongly connected to more than 120+ interior refurbishment centres, 150+ airlines, 340+ private jet operators (charter, business jet and helicopter) and 200+ MROs (airframe and component repair shops).
We currently offer a robust set of options and are always open to discussing customization of our services based on the specific needs of other companies who may want to leverage our expertise. Among our offerings are: Representation and complete marketing services. Customised digital marketing solutions. Distribution of products and services – professional marketing, sales and logistics teams. Logistics support – we have a joint venture with one of the largest logistics companies in this region with warehouses in various countries – and finally, dedicated customer support desks – for companies which have an existing customer base and want to serve them better via our local reach.
We have ambitious plans for the coming decade and our company has invested in developing a design and development centre for aircraft interior products. We are currently supporting a few PMA manufacturers in the US and Europe on their design, development and testing of aircraft cabin parts. We have a team of experienced designers who work on Autocad, Catia, Solidworks, Creo and Ansys Fluent software.
We have a growing team of marketing and sales personnel with a keen knowledge of aircraft interiors, already supporting several companies in the region. We intend to strengthen this team further by offering our expertise to more OEMs and suppliers from the US and Europe.
JCF: Most well-known business jet completion/ refurbishment centres seem to be in the US and Europe. In your opinion, what challenges do centres in the Middle-East & Asia face.
PS: Since there are no commercial aircraft manufacturers in the Middle East and Asia, the business jet completion eco system did not develop in this region until the last decade when a few small refurbishment centres started springing up and finding quick growth. Those who sustained the initial turbulent phase in this region are now reaping the benefits, as this industry has entered a new growth phase.
The major challenge aircraft refurbishment centres in the Middle East and Asia face, is that of supply chain. There is enough work for all the refurbishment centres, but execution is the challenge because 90% of all the material required for refurbishment still comes from the US and Europe. Over the last decade, this region has trained large number of technicians and craftsmen but availability of the right materials at the right time, is still a challenge.
Leather, fabric, carpet, synthetic leather, cushion and even the sewing threads come from either US or Europe and many of the suppliers still like to operate from their central offices in their respective countries. Hence the refurbishment centres have to depend on supplier’s working hours. There is also of course, the cultural difference between the west and east, which further complicates the procurement process.
Gone are the days when it was a supplier’s market, now it’s a buyer’s market. If the suppliers don’t address this issue, they are only encouraging the refurbishment centres to look for alternate local products. I have seen some refurbishment centres in this region using locally manufactured carpets with fire retardant coating to meet FAR 25.853 compliance, due to the poor presence and support from the more recognized suppliers.
JCF: In a general sense Dr. Srivastava, do you believe the current global landscape of major completion centers (by and large concentrated in the US and Europe) do a good job of servicing the current market? Or do you see room for major centres in your own region, perhaps India and/or the UAE (as examples)?
PS: There is no doubt on the capability of major completion centers in the US and Europe, they are doing a great job and have the history to support it. They also maintain a good understanding of the aero structural design of aircraft cabins. The challenge is not in fabrication or completion of a green aircraft, but offering ongoing post-completion services – and doing it in a climate of constantly changing technology – which of course is essential in meeting the customer’s demands for relevant and timely upgrades. I have seen many large business jet owners struggling with their cabin entertainment system, lighting system and surface finishes. When you buy a $60,000 - $80,000 car, you look for a good and reliable post-sales service network of that brand, in your city or area. And people who own bizjets, want the same – especially considering the price tags are generally north of $20ML – not counting customized cabin interiors?
These completion centers will have to extend their support through independent support agencies such as AeroChamp or setup their own regional customer support desk. In the present scenario the business jet owners in this region are inconvenienced when they have to fly with a faulty or malfunctioning cabin, galley or lav equipment and wait for a flight to Europe or US to get it fixed or replaced.
When you buy a $80,000 - $100,000 car, you look for a good and reliable post-sales service network of that brand, in your city or area. And people who own bizjets, want the same – especially considering the price tags are north of $20-40ML or higher, not counting customized cabin interiors?
JCF: What factors do you consider important for business jet interior product manufacturers in western countries to expand their business in the Middle east & Asia region – or vice-versa?
PS: Some of the more important factors business jet interior product manufacturers should consider in expanding their business to the Middle East and Asia are as follows:
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A strong local presence through companies which have domain knowledge related to their product and strong connect with the customers in the region.
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Regionally guided marketing activities that take advantage of the low man-hour costs in Asia.
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Availability of samples which can reach the customers within 24 – 36 hours and a well-trained mobile sales team (which can be a shared resource) that are able to travel on short notice, in order to close business.
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The Outsourcing of customer and maintenance staff training to regional companies in order to reduce travel cost and provide prompt after sales support.
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Setup regional customer support desk (can also be a shared resource), for better coordination between the base team and customers (in most cases MROs and refurbishment centres) to reduce the time lag.
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Regional availability of frequently failing parts for quick support.
JCF: Collaborations between aircraft interior related companies continues to be increasingly popular, especially in expanding capabilities to other continents or globally regional markets. Is this part of your own growth strategy for AeroChamp, and if so, what form do such collaborations take?
AeroChamp’s business philosophy has been: Collaborate, Coordinate and Cooperate - to create synergy for better returns. Business relationships essentially revolve around ROI, and each party in the relationship must benefit from the other. At AeroChamp we understand this very well and try to bring value to such collaborations via our domain knowledge, as well as the aircraft interiors industry in general and finally, our market reach within the Middle East and Asia region.
We invite aircraft interior product manufacturers to collaborate with us to expand their reach in the Middle East, Asia and Oceania. In the beginning our company, AeroChamp can introduce western products and services to the customers in this region and subsequently as the relationship strengthens, can offer to setup manufacturing facilities in Asia via joint venture. Based on our design and development capabilities, they may also find it valuable to outsource their development work to us – once again in leveraging benefit from the price competitiveness in Asia.
PS: What products & services of cabin interiors are having the highest penetration in your region among different aircraft applications?
Since this region is currently handling more of refurbishment work than completions, the replacement items like soft goods and surface finishing material have higher demand than the hardware items. We have seen increasing demand for interior products like carpet, leather, fabric, sidewall lining, underlay foam, cushion, wood veneer, lacquer, decorative metal plating, cabin lighting etc. In the cabin interior services, there is demand for cabin comfort enhancement solutions, cabin upgrade and modification technical support and DOA / DER services.
JCF: Lastly Dr. Srivastava, I sometimes like to close with a more frivolous inquiry, so here goes: Given the opportunity, what jet would you own for yourself, where would your preferred routes be – and lastly what car would you slip into on deplaning?
If ever I am able to buy a private plane for myself, I would love to own a Gulfstream latest being the G800, in which I would like to add a touch of my daughter Pragati Srivastava’s design who is currently pursuing her bachelor’s in Architecture and aspires to become a business jet interior designer. I love this plane for its sleek design and performance. My dream car is the Rolls Royce Phantom for now, but that may change with time :)
JCF Magazine would like to thank Dr. Srivastava for his generous time in answering our questions and thus informing our readers on the current climate within the Middle East and Asia markets. We look forward to staying abreast of these markets and their effect on the industry at large - via future insights by Mr. Srivastava - as the next few years unfold.
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For more information please visit AeroChamp website www.aerochamp.net and reachout to them on marketing@aerochamp.net or on WhatsApp no. +91- 93217 73847.
