Soon after Typhoon Hato wreaked havoc in the South China Sea last August, Hawker Pacific (HP) Asia Pacific's customer support team received a call from a customer in Macau—two of its Embraer business jets were damaged. The company dispatched an emergency-response team to assess the damage and do on-site repairs. Once the aircraft were airworthy, they were ferried to HP Asia Pacific's facility at Seletar Aerospace Park, Singapore—an authorized service center for Embraer's entire civil product line—for permanent repairs.

"Hawker Pacific Asia offers mobile recovery support, and our teams are always at the ready to support our customers," said Louis Leong, v-p, HP Asia Pacific.

HP Asia Pacific has been offering customers mobile MRO support since 2000. The facility staffs its field service recovery/aircraft on ground (AOG) desk around the clock. Once a call comes in, the company's technicians and engineers help diagnose the issue, using both descriptions and, where possible, photographs supplied by the customer.

Once the problem is diagnosed, a recovery plan is put into place. In some cases, the problem can be solved remotely, such as by resetting onboard software. In cases where parts and hands-on work are required, HP will source the needed materials and, if necessary, have a team en route in a matter of hours.

HP Asia Pacific (Stand CD43) averages about five mobile aircraft-recovery calls monthly, the company says. Teams have been sent to both major aviation hubs, including London and Tokyo, and more remote locations, such as Guam, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia.

"Hawker Pacific is at the forefront of state-of-the-art maintenance and support services in Asia and Australasia," said HP CEO Alan Smith. "As demand increases, so do the challenges."

The company is expanding to meet customer needs. Later this month, it will open its ninth FBO, in Darwin, Australia.

“Hawker Pacific operates the largest network of FBOs across Asia and Australia, and adding our new Darwin FBO provides Hawker Pacific clients a choice for their first point of entry into the northern territory of Australia,” said HP vp-FBO Graham Owen.

The Darwin FBO is expected to receive the first customer flights towards the end of this month. It will be able to handle corporate and private traffic as well as military and heavy aircraft.

An authorized service center for Hawker Beechcraft, Bombardier, Bell Helicopter, Diamond, Dassault and Embraer, HP has facilities in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, China and the United Arab Emirates.