Three more facilities for airplane maintenance services were opened in Singapore Wednesday, a sign of the strengthening of the city state's position as an aerospace hub.

Singapore Technologies (ST) Aerospace, a local aircraft maintenance, repair, overhaul and engineering specialist with global outreach, opened its second hangar at Changi North Industrial Park in Eastern Singapore.

This new hangar, built at a cost of 25 million Singapore dollars (about 15 million U.S. dollars), will provide maintenance and modification services for larger aircraft.

Another maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) center specializing in the servicing of hydraulic pumps and flight control actuators was launched at Loyang Aerospace Park in north- central Singapore.

According to Channel NewsAsia report, the facility of 19 million Singapore dollars (about 12 million U.S. dollars) is a joint venture between SIA (Singapore Airlines) Engineering and Parker Aerospace, an American company.

The third maintenance and repair facility worth 20 million Singapore dollars (about 12 million U.S. dollars ) was opened by Turbine Overhaul Services, an associated company of ST Aerospace, in Tuas in western Singapore.

Singapore's aerospace industry generated an output of 5.2 billion Singapore dollars (about 3.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2005, of which 90 percent were from the MRO sector.

Currently, the city state's MRO services account for 6 percent of the global market and about one-quarter of the Asian market.

On Tuesday, Pratt & Whitney and European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, two renowned aerospace industry players in the world, also opened their respective new facilities for aircraft repair as well as research and development in Singapore.

Source: Xinhua