KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 (Reuters) - The global aircraft

repair industry will see more growth in the next six years as

airlines keep flying their jets longer because of a shortage of

new planes, said Mahesh Kumar, the CEO of Malaysia-based

aviation services firm Asia Digital Engineering (ADE).

New deliveries have dropped sharply in recent months amid

supply chain disruptions and rising labour costs, driving

carriers to retain aircraft maintenance, repairs and operations

(MRO) services for longer to keep older planes in the air,

Mahesh said.

"It's a boom for the MRO business," he told Reuters in an

interview on Monday.

ADE, a unit of Capital A, which also operates

budget airline AirAsia, has seen rapid growth since it began

operations in September 2020 at the height of the COVID-19

pandemic.

The company, which conducts line maintenance as well as more

comprehensive base maintenance checks, in 2023 doubled its

annual revenue to 574 million ringgit ($122.91 million), amid a

surge in flying activity.

Its slots are fully booked until the end of 2025, including

at its new 14-line maintenance hangar near Kuala Lumpur

International Airport that will be Malaysia's largest when it

opens in August, Mahesh said.

While AirAsia remains its biggest customer, ADE expects to

attract more third-party airlines and expand its services to

cover a wider range of aircraft, including potentially Chinese

planemaker COMAC, which aims to rival Boeing ( BA ) and Airbus

.

"They've approached us and we have visited COMAC's

(facilities) as well," Mahesh said, adding that there were no

plans yet for the firms to cooperate.

"There's a lot of similarity between the Airbus and COMAC's

aircraft components also. So from the MRO's perspective, we are

pretty excited to service their airplanes."

ADE was also working to tackle industry delays because of

ongoing labour and supply challenges. It has developed software

to monitor and predict an aircraft's maintenance needs, which

has helped cut average repair times by 20%-30%, Mahesh said.

It also operates Aerotrade, an online marketplace that

allows airlines and aviation companies to buy and sell aircraft

parts, he said.

($1 = 4.6700 ringgit)