SINGAPORE — Hear that? The private business jet sector is taking off loudly in Asia as busy executives turn to hassle-free, direct point-to-point travel, opening up opportunities for Jet Aviation and the US$25 million (S$31 million) hangar it unveiled at Seletar Airport yesterday.

With Asia the hot spot for economic growth, business aviation has risen significantly, with analysts predicting the region will invest about US$40 billion in private aircraft over the next 10 years. For Singapore, where business aviation movement has increased by a compounded annual rate of 19.8 per cent between 2008 and 2012, Jet Aviation’s new hangar is another vote of confidence for the country as a regional aviation hub.

The 5,000sqm structure overlooking Seletar Airport’s runway effectively triples the size of Jet Aviation’s current facility, making it the group’s third-largest MRO (maintenance, repair, operations) hub globally.

It is a worthy investment that will position Jet Aviation for steady growth in the coming years, the company’s president Robert Smith told TODAY ahead of the hangar’s launch.

“With the new hangar, we expect to see double-digit growth, say 10 per cent this year and next, in terms of maintenance hours at our facility here and similarly for revenue,” Mr Smith said.

“Technically, we can triple our operations; our current staff strength and demand do not yet allow that, but we see that happening in the not-too-distant future.”

Jet Aviation’s new hangar comes as Asia, poised to topple the United States in having the most number of millionaires this year, increasingly becomes a key growth region for business aviation as big corporations in Europe and the US cut back on travelling costs.

“We know there’re more planes coming to this region, where flight activities have been growing at a double-digit pace for the past several years. Whereas in Europe, flight activities have been flat or even declining, and in the US, there has been only a small uptick of 2 to 3 per cent recently,” Mr Smith said.

Just last month, China’s Minsheng Financial Leasing sealed an order for 60 business jets from Gulfstream — another subsidiary of Jet Aviation’s parent General Dynamics — at Shanghai’s Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition. This followed the US$852 million worth of new orders and commitments Bombardier pulled in at the Singapore Airshow this year.

“The number of business jets in Asia has grown from about 950 in 2002 to close to 1,600 currently, a trend that has been strengthening in the last four to five years,” Mr Smith added. “That’s what we’re here to support. But we’re also here for the long haul. Not just for growth in the next few years — it’s a 20- to 25-year investment.”

At its newly expanded facility, Jet Aviation is authorised to provide MRO service to business jets manufactured by Gulfstream, Nextant, Bombardier and Boeing, with Airbus corporate jets possibly joining the list later this year, said Mr Gary Dolski, vice-president and general manager of Jet Aviation Singapore.

“With our hangars and ramp combined, our facility can accommodate up to 25 to 30 aircraft of various combinations. I believe that makes us the biggest operator among the four or five major competitors here, at least in terms of floor area,” Mr Dolski said.

“But our business is more limited by the manpower we have, which is an issue for us here in Singapore due to a lack of local talent especially in the area of business aviation. As a result, we’ve had to bring foreign specialists to fill our need.”

To strengthen the local talent pool, Jet Aviation partnered Air Transport Training College in February to organise a dedicated training programme.

The firm has already hired one trainee with two more coming in June, “and our commitment is to bring in at least four a year, at least for a couple of years”, said Mr Dolski.