South Korea expands MRO and component manufacturing. Can they attract third party airlines?

MRO has become a buzzword in Korean aviation. New MRO providers are seeking to establish themselves, often at underutilised tertiary airports. Besides pursuing traditional MRO, companies are seeking to emulate Korea's automobile industry producing car components; some recognise an ability for Korea to have a greater share producing aircraft components for original assembly and maintenance replacements.

Korea's largest airline by far, Korean Air, has an MRO division, whereas the second largest operator Asiana Airlines sends some aircraft abroad for heavy maintenance.

Korea's booming LCC sector - with over 100 aircraft, mostly narrowbodies - uses local line maintenance but is also a large customer for overseas heavy maintenance.

The LCCs typically use older leased aircraft, and may return them before heavy checks. New MRO companies seek to be cheaper than they are in Japan yet easier to do business with than in China, but there is concern Korea itself has limited growth for the MRO sector.