KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is a very important market for aerospace players in this part of the world, Honeywell Aerospace Asia-Pacific airlines vice-president Brian Davis said today.
He said this was evident with the giant establishing the Honeywell International Sdn Bhd Malaysia facility here.
“Honeywell became the first global company to join Malaysia's Principal Hub initiative in 2016.
“We are seeing strong growth opportunities in the aerospace sector in Malaysia and expect double-digit growth in aircraft demand for Southeast Asia and greater Asia over the next two decades,” he said.
Davis was responding to Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Ignatius Darell Leiking who announced on Thursday that Malaysia was eyeing to become the leading aerospace nation in South East Asia by 2030, with a targeted annual revenue of RM55.2 billion.
Honeywell Aerospace has a 220,000 square foot integrated avionics system manufacturing facility in Penang that supplies the world’s most advanced avionics safety equipment, including its flight management system for Malaysia Airlines.
“In 2017, we decided to tap onto Malaysia’s strategic location and fast-growing economy by setting up a new aftermarket headquarters and Asia Regional Distribution Center in Kuala Lumpur that distributes spares and repair material to the entire Asia Pacific region.
“We are glad to witness an increasing demand for aerospace services as Honeywell grows its presence in Malaysia, and are proud to service Malaysian-based airlines such as Air Asia in providing the most fuel efficient and reliable auxiliary power units (APUs) in the market, as well as the support from technical experts to ensure maximum aircraft performance,” said Davis.
He added that Honeywell was optimistic that its growth in Malaysia would significantly improve aftermarket support and new industry-leading innovations that connected aircraft-to-ground operations through IoT and big data.
This, he said, would allow airlines to operate safer and more efficiently while providing the best-in-class service for our customers in the region.
“Beyond supporting Malaysia’s goal to become the leading aerospace nation in Southeast Asia, Honeywell is also committed to the local communities, training over 6,000 children in Malaysia on fire safety and accident prevention, and sending teachers to the Space Academy in Houston, Texas, to develop a new generation of leaders, engineers and scientists for our tomorrow,” said Davis.