Pratt & Whitney’s Eagle Services Asia will grow its GTF capacity by two thirds in 2024. Photo: Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney, an RTX (NYSE: RTX) business, announced the official opening of a 48,000 square-foot expansion of Eagle Services Asia (ESA), its engine center based in Singapore.
ESA is a joint venture between SIA Engineering Company and Pratt & Whitney, and has completed over 500 GTF engine overhauls since the introduction of its GTF MRO capability back in 2019. With the new facility expansion, ESA’s GTF capacity is expected to grow by two-thirds this year.
“This expansion demonstrates our commitment to building industrial capacity by continuing to invest in our strategic sites around the world to support our customers,” said Shang Meleschi, vice president of Aftermarket Operations – Asia Pacific and Türkiye at Pratt & Whitney. “We are bringing together talent from our engine center, technologies from the Singapore Technology Accelerator and innovative practices from across Pratt & Whitney to improve MRO performance for our GTF fleet.”
The transformative technology insertion applied across both ESA sites integrates robotics, automation and machine learning to increase efficiency, lower stress on machine operators and increase safety for key MRO processes.
These innovations include fully automated high-pressure compressor (HPC) rotor stacking, a Receive-in-Check Cobot that augments the work done by human inspectors and a robotic arm to install and remove HPC bearing sleeves.
To support the growing GTF fleet, Pratt & Whitney announced three GTF MRO facility expansions and six shop activations in 2023. There are currently 15 active GTF MRO engine centers around the world, with seven locations in the Asia Pacific region including ESA in Singapore, Korean Airlines in Korea, IHI and MHIAEL in Japan, MTU Maintenance Zhuhai and AMECO in China, and China Airlines in Taiwan. By 2025, the company expects to have 19 active GTF MRO shops worldwide.