7 out of 10 'Overseas Outsourcing' if LCC plane breaks down...It is urgent to foster MRO in Korea.

ⓒYonhap News Agency

In the wake of the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster, the issue of poor maintenance of low-cost domestic airlines (LCCs) has been put on the cutting board.

It has been confirmed that more than 70% of LCCs entrust heavy maintenance costs, such as engine repair, to foreign countries.

It is pointed out that domestic airlines should increase the number of mechanics and increase their heavy maintenance capabilities to repair significant airframe defects.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 2nd, overseas maintenance costs for LCCs increased by 63.6% from 307.2 billion won in 2019 to 502.7 billion won in 2023. The proportion of maintenance overseas also increased from 62.2% to 71.1% during the same period.

In other words, 7 out of 10 cases are repaired abroad when an aircraft is suspected of failure. This is because the number of aircraft that need to be repaired has increased as the LCC industry has grown over the past decade, but the domestic maintenance environment has remained flat.

This is attributed to the absence of a domestic maintenance, maintenance, and repair (MRO) system that will repair serious gas defects such as engine failure.

Korean Air and Korea Air Service (KAEMS) are the only MRO companies in Korea, so most LCCs have to entrust compensation overseas in case of aircraft failure.

Jeju Air CEO Kim Yi-bae also said in a recent briefing, "Daily maintenance is carried out on its own and heavy maintenance is sent to MRO companies," adding, "There is a CAMS in Korea, but the slots (repair space) are limited, so some of them are carried out in Korea and the rest are sent to overseas MRO companies."

Reporter Park Sun-young of Digital News Team