Rolls-Royce to hire 150 people in Singapore as travel recovers

Singapore

ROLLS-ROYCE Holdings Plc plans to hire around 150 people across its network of partners in Singapore as airlines start to bring back planes that were grounded during the pandemic and international travel picks up.

London-headquartered Rolls-Royce expects about 80 per cent of the planned expanded headcount for this year will be for maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) ventures, Bicky Bhangu, the company's president of South-east Asia, Pacific and South Korea, said on Tuesday (Feb 8) during a briefing. An additional 130 trainees will be hired across the network, he said.

"We do see an anticipated growth in the MRO activities and we need to be future-ready," Bhangu said. "The near-term growth is definitely in the MRO side of things. That's why we're hiring 150 people this year."

Airlines must carry out inspections of their planes regularly to ensure they are fit to fly. The recent moves by a growing number of countries, including Australia and Vietnam, to reopen borders to international travel after extended periods of having them closed has also increased the need for jet maintenance.

In Singapore, Rolls-Royce manufactures fan blades for its Trent engines that power Airbus SE's A350 passenger and cargo planes as well as Boeing Co's 787s. The company also has a venture with SIA Engineering Co, the aircraft maintenance arm of Singapore Airlines, for engine MRO operations.

The 2022 Singapore Airshow kicks off in the city-state next week. BLOOMBERG