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Unlike the process of shipping aircraft parts, shipping a routine parcel like a book or a bottle of perfume is relatively easy. If all goes to plan, the parcel will be delivered in a couple of days without a hitch. However, shipping an urgently-needed and vital aircraft part may or may not be so straightforward, depending on the type of shipment you choose, the urgency, and the cargo’s size.

Jevgenijus Petronis, Head of Product at Locatory.com – a leading online aircraft parts marketplace and a family member of Avia Solutions Group – shares some industry insights on the subject of shipping.

AOG Freight

The first and probably the most time-sensitive to execute is an AOG (aircraft on ground) shipment. An AOG shipment means that aircraft parts are urgently needed to return an aircraft to full service. Because of this major factor, every second counts. This type of freight transportation is mostly handled by established brokers who have the connections and the means to organise the shipment, usually in a matter of hours, through a ‘next flight out’ or direct charter process. However, due to the urgency of expediting the shipment significant costs and delivery charges may be incurred and will need to be backed up by a strong case to justify such costs.

Routine small parcel shipments

Most airlines or MRO service providers will already have in place an established process for shipping small or routine delivery aircraft parts. Routine small parcel deliveries – usually weighing under 150lbs (68kg) – can be accommodated on scheduled passenger flights as regular freight. For less time-sensitive deliveries, the process is usually uncomplicated (they may require some extra customs documentation, and may also include the parcel transiting through several sectors) however, this method of delivery incurs less of a financial burden.

Routine heavy freight shipments

For aircraft parts weighing over 150lbs (68kg) the challenge can become more complicated. Large or ‘oversized’ cargo, depending on their bulk, will require specialist knowledge and the services of a dedicated cargo transportation provider should be adopted. Large shipments may include entire aircraft engines, APUs, or landing gear, all of which require special handling due to their sensitivity. The time involved in organising such shipments and their delivery can range from several days to more than a month – especially if sea transportation becomes the only option available. Additionally, the cost of transporting heavy or ‘oversized’ cargo can also be reflected by the difficulty of the operation.

High-value shipments

In the world of aviation, even seemingly small aircraft parts can cost a lot of money, making their transportation both risky and costly.

Regarding high-value shipments, Locatary.com’s Jevgenijus Petronis said, “With this type of high-value shipment, the question is not how much it will cost or how long it will take, but rather do you trust the people who are carrying it? In our case, we always provide our clients with the option of attaching a GPS tracker to monitor the location of the goods in real-time. While this gives the client visibility of the aircraft part’s location at any given time, the real benefit which we can offer is the knowledge that the companies with whom we are partnering are experts in their field and provide their services with the utmost respect to the client, while remaining compliant with all safety regulations to ensure the part’s arrival as intended.”

As further testament to the quality delivered by locatory.com, when asked what persuaded him to sign up the company’s shipping services, Awsam Farjo, CEO at Aviator Solutions Limited had this to say. “I feel that you (Locatory) are a part of my business… your expertise in the field of shipping, and your connections to find the best shipping solutions have greatly helped us to increase profitability.” Mr. Farjo went on to say, “Over the years as we built our lines of communication, I felt that you fully understood me and my business… and, I believe it’s vitally important that the shipping forwarder should understand us and help us to reduce our efforts. I am 100% satisfied with Locatory’s fast communications, quick response times, along with every aspect of the services provided.”

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On average, 92% of an aircraft’s bulk is re-used and recycled. It takes over 50 million individual components to make up 1 Airbus A320 aircraft; finding a buyer for that many parts can be a challenge.

Currently, only 700 aircraft are retired each year, however, industry analysts predict that by 2038 more than 1,100 airframes will be retired annually. An increase of such magnitude, combined with industry-wide plans to reach a nearly 100% recycling rate could prove problematic if mishandled.

The growing rate of aircraft disposal is the result of multiple airlines’ fast-tracking the upgrading of their fleets with more fuel-efficient and environmentally compliant aircraft. At present, a common practice after aircraft disassembly includes an MRO or airline company finding customers for recycled aircraft parts – usually done via trade shows, direct contacts, or social media.

While social media does seem effective, finding the right customer at the right time is as challenging as cold calling – making direct contact with prospective customers. When it comes to trade shows, the ability to meet like-minded professionals, who may be interested in the stock a company could provide, can sometimes prove positive. However, the limited reach of this type of communication is hardly ideal for the creation of an effective part procurement supply chain.

One means of increasing the possibility of reaching potential customers is by introducing an online aircraft parts marketplace into a company’s daily operations. By having a broad spectrum of destinations and clients available at once, it becomes possible to recycle virtually 100% of the aircraft in the form of spare parts, alternative use components, and recyclable raw materials.

Dainius Meilunas, the CEO at Locatory.com, an online aircraft parts marketplace, explains the company’s view on the future of the aircraft part procurement process. “As aviation continues to show signs of growth in the future – despite the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic – and the concept of a circular economy is becoming more and more appealing to companies across the globe, effective communication in the MRO and airline business will be vital to maintaining a pole position. From our clients’ feedback, we know that the global reach of our platform allows companies to offload their redundant stock, free up storage space, and take on new projects quicker. Aircraft dismantling is a competitive US$3 billion a year industry, which with effective management and trading of stock could become a lucrative business for companies worldwide.”

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The aviation sector is beginning to recover from the COVID-19 crisis, with the world gradually emerging from a pandemic, manufacturers are scrambling to secure raw materials to meet demand. Unfortunately, for many manufacturers, growth is being held up by record supply chain delays. New orders are running ahead of production at the high rate.

The slowdown of the supply chain in industries around the globe is now impacting the aviation industry. Critical parts such as spark plugs and oil filters now after seeing the beginning of a shortage and significant price increases in these and other key supplies over the past several months. Further, the parts shortage is requiring additional time, given the extra effort needed to regularly check tracking numbers for parts and keeping an eye on inventory in general.

The traffic is expected to rebound earliest for single-aisle planes, typically used for domestic or regional flights. The market for civilian aircraft in this segment could return to pre-pandemic levels as early as 2023 according to Airbus. The aerospace group is urging suppliers to be ready for a sharp ramp up of production — particularly in the A320 family. This model represents the mass of its business, responsible for around 80% of both its 566 aircraft deliveries last year as well as its 7,000-strong order book for planes.

In this segment, output is expected to grow from 45 planes per month in the final quarter of this year to what Airbus calls a “firm rate” of 64 by the second quarter of 2023. The company also wants suppliers to be prepared for a pace of 70 per month at the start of 2024, rising to as much as 75 by the following year, although there is more uncertainty around these estimates the further out they go.

Yet, there is one certainty that OEMs, MROs, and USM players can 100 percent rely on — and hopefully plan for. As flying re-starts, airlines will be laser-focused on lower material costs. With USM an increasingly acceptable lower cost alternative to new OEM parts, demand in that market should be expected to be very strong. This may necessitate securing the right partnerships now to meet the inevitable future demand. In the near term, the importance of being a “smart buyer” or “smart seller” and having the necessary technical expertise will never be higher.

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Since 2008 the aviation industry have been following the sector-wide climate action framework. The framework is based on a set of three global goals: short, medium and long-term.

Short goal: 1.5% average annual fuel efficiency improvement from 2009 to 2020

Medium goal: Stabilize net aviation CO2 emissions at 2020 levels through carbon-neutral growth.

Long-term goal: Halving net CO2 emissions by 2050 compared to what they were in 2005.

(Reference: https://aviationbenefits.org/)

The industry’s climate action framework is designed to help find the balance between the two goals – economic growth through connectivity, and reduction of climate impact. Trade and tourism are important drivers of global economic development. Overall emissions from aviation have risen, as the volume of air traffic has increased. Most growth has occurred in emerging economies, as they begin to reap the benefits of air travel.

Nevertheless, the aviation industry has made significant progress in fuel and CO2 efficiency, halving the amount of fuel used per flight compared to 1990. In other words, your flight today would generate just 50% the CO2 compared to the same flight back in 1990. This has been achieved through technological advancement and improvements in operations and infrastructure.

Innovation

Each new generation of aircraft is roughly 15% to 20% more fuel efficient, and manufacturers invest around $15 billion per year in research intro greater efficiency. In the future, we may even be able to fly on electric or hybrid aircraft on short-haul flights.

Sustainable aviation fuels

Sustainable aviation fuels have great potential for securing the sustainable growth of air travel as they could reduce CO2 emissions by around 80% compared with fossil fuels, without the need to radically change the fuel supply systems or engines of aircraft.

Operational improvements

Aviation industry is making the current fleet lighter and more efficient and using new air traffic control techniques to save emissions.

Infrastructure efficiencies

Shortening flying times by a minute saves at least 100kg of CO2 per flight. Reformed air traffic management systems in the United States, Asia and Europe will cut emissions significantly.

Market-based measures

Economic measures are a part of the strategy to supports economic measures to help limit aviation’s climate change impact.

Air transport generated 895 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 2018. This may sound like a lot, but it is only around 2% of the 42 billion tons of CO2 generated by human activities every year. Despite increasing passenger numbers each year, aviation has managed to limit its emissions growth. This is through massive investment in new technology and coordinated action to implement new operating procedures and infrastructural measures.

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As COVID-19 swept through the aviation industry in 2020 and onwards into 2021, searching for cheaper but reliable aircraft parts became the ‘new normal’ for both airlines and dedicated MRO providers seeking effective aviation solutions. In 2019 used serviceable materials (USM) constituted only US$4.7 billion of the overall market, in 2022 that figure is expected to reach upwards of US$7.9, representing about 13% of the US$60 billion aircraft parts market.

With more than 2,500 aircraft retired in 2020 alone and the aircraft parts market expected to sustain growth until at least 2028, OEM (original equipment manufacturer) production and USM will play a key role in the ‘new normal’ for the industry. While the products sold are the same, parts and USM will benefit different groups of MROs and airlines. 

To stay competitive MROs will have the option to choose from multiple suppliers in order to establish a steady and reliable USM supply chain, avoiding OEM products, and thus saving on costs and offering a more competitive price for the customer.

For OEMs, the current period may not be the most lucrative of times, but what comes next will make rather than break the new parts manufacturer’s business. As countries have already witnessed positive results from vaccination campaign roll-outs, the renewed rise in air travel is inevitable. As a result, thousands of airframes will be subject to maintenance programs and will ultimately create demand for replacement parts, which USM possibly will not be able to support, thus, requiring OEMs – manufacturing aircraft parts –  to supply MROs with their production.

While the news may sound welcoming for MROs and airlines, along with their respective maintenance arms, without efficient aircraft parts identification, listing, and marketplace solutions, the blessing may well be short-lived. One solution to maximize the efficiency of aircraft parts procurement is the use of the digital marketplace. Aircraft parts marketplaces, like Locatory.com, are already known to employ cutting edge solutions like Artificial Intelligence to optimize the listing and order processes. Subsequently, the infrastructure to support MROs and airlines is already in place, the only remaining question is how to find reliable partners when creating future supply chains?

Jevgenijus Petronis, the Head of Product of Locatory.com, the leading online aircraft parts marketplace, explains: “Digital marketplaces allow customers to save significant amounts of time and money while simultaneously gaining valuable economic and logistical data that can be used to maximize efficiency. They directly connect buyers and sellers and by adopting new technology like blockchain, the already established part procurement industry is being reinvented in a decentralized manner, taking out the middlemen and connecting buyers and sellers directly to each other, thus maximizing operational efficiency.”

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The airplane recycling process begins with non-destructive dismantling activity. First, some easily removable items such as passenger seats, engines, and other components are taken—eventually, just the shell remains. At that point, a massive excavator demolishes the vast shell of the airplane. Once different parts of the shell are broken down into small pieces, they are transported for the next phase of the recycling.

Some airplane parts can be recovered or refurbished for reuse in new aircraft. Utilizing old aircraft parts such as galley carts, trays, and overhead bins in the fitting of new planes can help aircraft producers control costs. In fact, aircraft are increasingly being retired earlier in life to harvest parts, which can generate more revenue than being sold intact.

While past year has been tough on aviation in every possible aspect, the reduction of the global fleet has arouse a development of a new and interesting industry. Aviation geeks around the world have been trying to own their own little piece of aviation history, collecting everything from scraps to larger and more unusual pieces from aircrafts.

2021 sees the global fleet with far fewer members, since 2020 has seen the tragic demise of numerous iconic aircraft, from the Boeing 747 to the Airbus A340. Not everyone letting these aircraft go quietly! There are those, who want a little piece to remember them by and some a rather large pieces!

Most in-demand item, apparently are the window cuts. These have proven to be popular for turning into clocks, mirrors and other attractive items, Some even create new pieces to sell on to other enthusiasts.

For many aviation geeks, securing a part of a dismantled aircraft can be challenging. Some top tips for anyone looking to get a hold of unique piece: keep an eye on what’s being scrapped and where. Knowing what is headed for dismantling and which company will be handling the process can put you a step ahead of the competition.

However, be realistic about what you can actually handle, some of these parts are much bigger than people expect, and some components can be dangerous or toxic. It’s important to know what you’re doing and to understand what you’re taking on.