Having concluded Engine Leasing, Trading & Finance in London yesterday, I’ll be packing my bags to travel to Turkey for Aviation Week’s MRO BEER conference, which takes place in Istanbul from June 15-16.

The first in-person BEER event since 2019 comes at a time of recovery for the Eastern Europe region. With passenger numbers picking up, albeit from the low bases of 2020 and 2021, there is hope for a strong summer of commercial traffic. 

As a result of the pickup seen so far in 2022, Eastern Europe’s commercial aftermarket has seen regional MROs making moves to bolster capabilities while also addressing concerns which pre-dated COVID-19, such as capacity constraints and labor challenges. 

However, another major challenge lies in geopolitics. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February saw the outbreak of war playing out on the region’s doorstep.

While resulting in a loss of MRO business, this has also caused disruptions to the aviation supply chain and in the leasing market, with some of the world’s major lessors filing hefty insurance claims running into billions of dollars.

I’ll be looking at the impact of these regional challenges in my first panel, taking place on the opening morning with panelists from some of the region’s prominent MRO providers and airline maintenance businesses. 

Other sessions catching the eye are the topic of supply chain challenges, sustainability initiatives, the altered landscape of the leasing segment and digitalization and efficiency strategies across the region.

More pre-event insight can be found in the form of a recently recorded podcast: The State Of Eastern Europe’s MRO Segment In 2022.