Bombardier is adding a new Melbourne, Australia service centre at Essendon Fields airport, which will extend the OEM's footprint in the Asia Pacific region by creating a full service facility for customers in Australia. Expected to be fully operational in 2022, the service facility will feature more than 50,000 sq ft of capacity and will provide customers with a variety of service options including scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, modifications, avionics installations and AOG support for Learjet, Challenger and Global aircraft, including an approximately 30,000 sq ft hangar and 4,000 sq ft parts depot.

“The decision to base the service centre at Essendon Fields was a logical one for Bombardier,” says Christopher Debergh, VP and GM of OEM parts and services. “Australia is a key strategic market for Bombardier with solid growth potential. We have close to 100 Bombardier business aircraft in service in Australia and having a world-class service centre in Australia will guarantee that our Australian customers, in addition to having the world’s best business jets, will have convenient access to the best customer service.”

The Asia Pacific region is an important one for Bombardier. It was the first major economy to show a recovery from the pandemic, and its GDP is expected to grow 6.9 per cent in 2021. Bombardier currently has a 31.5 per cent market share of the more than 990 business aircraft located in the Asia Pacific region. Over the past five years, its regional market share has been solid. Growth opportunities in the region are sound for both new and pre-owned aircraft.

“The pandemic certainly has brought about some challenges, but Bombardier ended the year with great momentum; in 2020, we announced 114 aircraft deliveries, 44 of which came in the fourth quarter, including a record 16 Global 7500 business jet deliveries,” Debergh adds. “The pandemic also brought new interest to business aviation. We had a firm order for 10 Challenger 350 aircraft in a transaction valued at US$267 million and marked the 350th delivery of the Challenger 350 business jet, a milestone reached after only seven years in service. The number of deliveries in the fourth quarter outdistanced all our competitors.

“The commitment, flexibility and agility of our various teams enabled us to align favourably to market conditions and our new reality, and we moved swiftly to adapt to the new business realities. From an aftermarket perspective, our service centres remained open throughout the pandemic as essential services to service aircraft and have remained busy with maintenance activities.”

The company is seeing positive momentum in the industry, and while it remains difficult to predict the timeline to a full market recovery, the OEM does expect deliveries and revenues this year to be better than 2020. In 2021, Bombardier will continue to concentrate on developing its product portfolio while expanding its services business. “With the additional capacity we’re bringing with our major service expansion projects in Singapore, London, Berlin, Melbourne and Miami, we will be well positioned for significant growth as the pandemic subsides,” Debergh explains. “We have a strong foundation to build upon. We are encouraged by our momentum in the fourth quarter and are confident in the actions we are taking to navigate through the pandemic and better position the company for a market recovery.”