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It's all down to hard work, solid plan |
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CONTRARY to popular belief, members of the royalty do not have it easy when it comes to business. They still need a good business plan and tonnes of determination, said Syed Budriz Putra, chief executive officer of Sepang Aircraft Engineering Sdn Bhd (SAE).
SAE recently won a contract to maintain and repair airplanes for AirAsia, Asia's largest budget carrier. The deal is set to be a lucrative one because AirAsia has ordered 150 Airbus planes.
When news filtered that Syed Budriz was the personality behind SAE, sceptics said that his family background could have made things easy for him.
Syed Budriz is the nephew of Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail.
"To be honest, I am immune to it. However, to set the record straight, I have to work just as hard. "In today's highly competitive environment it is important for one to walk the talk. It is important for one to know how to spot an opportunity and then turn it into something positive. That is exactly what I am doing for the local maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry. I am using this business opportunity to turn Malaysia into an MRO hub in the Asia
Pacific region.
"With AirAsia's firm order of 150 A320s, which will provide us with huge economy of scale benefit, it is also my goal to turn Malaysia into the centre of excellence for the A320s family," he told Business Times in an exclusive interview recently.
In Asia, the biggest player in MRO is Singapore, accounting for about a quarter of all MRO activity in the region. The MRO market in Asia-Pacific is expected to grow to US$15 billion (RM51 billion) by 2016, according to industry consultant AeroStrategy Management Consultancy.
Malaysia wants a slice of this pie and the Government has plans to make the country an MRO hub in the region.
But it has not been easy for SAE to win the contract from AirAsia. Syed Budriz recounts how he had to virtually stalk Datuk Tony Fernandes for five months just to tell him his business plan.
"Even when I finally do get to talk to him, it was difficult for me to get his full attention as he was always busy with his Blackberry.
"My big break was when I followed him on a Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur flight. That was when I got his full attention for two solid hours - because he can't use his cell phone on the plane. That was when I managed to convince him about the viability of our business plan," he said.
SAE was recently awarded the contract to carry out airframe maintenance for AirAsia's A320 and the B737 fleet - a move seen as a first step to gradually bring the airline's MRO operations, currently handled by Singapore Technologies Aerospace Ltd, back to Malaysian shores.
Although AirAsia will be its anchor client, Syed Budriz stressed its services is not exclusively for the budget airline. It has bigger plans to promote its services to other LCCs as well.
In fact, he said, if the opportunity arises, it would also like to work with national carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS).
"As an independent MRO company, we are not an extension to any particular airlines. Yes, our core customer is AirAsia, but we also welcome others to engage in our services," he added.
The company targets to commence operation by October this year, upon the completion of its RM60 million hangar at KL International Airport.
With an estimated annual revenue of RM40 million, it aims to start seeing profits in the third year of operations.
Looking at AirAsia's huge A320 orders, scheduled for full delivery by 2013, the company is looking to pump in another RM50 million by end of next year to expand its hangar facility.
By Anna Maria Samsudin, NST 05/06/2007 |
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