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Whether triggered by geopolitical conflict, evolving safety standards, or shifting international directives, new rules can emerge overnight, demanding immediate interpretation and decisive action. For legal teams, volatility is part of daily life. At Magnetic Group, where operations span borders and multiple business models, navigating this environment requires far more than legal literacy – it demands strategic judgment under pressure. “I’ve just entered my 12th year at Magnetic Group – and hopefully many more to come, as it’s never been routine or dull here,” says Sabina Juciene, Head of Legal at Magnetic Group, who is responsible for overseeing the most complex legal matters, developing and implementing legal strategies aligned with the company’s overall business objectives, and leading the legal team.

It’s no secret that the global aviation industry is expanding, but behind every aircraft that takes off safely, there’s a lesser-known story: the critical need for licensed maintenance engineers. With global aircraft fleets projected to grow from 29,000 to over 38,000 in the next decade, and manufacturing delays pushing airlines to extend the life of older jets, the maintenance sector is facing mounting pressure. And yet, fewer young people are entering the field. “We’re looking at a shortfall of roughly half a million engineers over the next ten years,” says Ene Krinpus, Managing Director of Engineering & Training Services at Magnetic Talents.

In response to the ever-increasing demand for engine-related work in the market, Magnetic Engines has scaled its operations at its Tallinn-based engine workshop. Alexey Ivanov, Business Development Manager at Magnetic Engines, introduces us to the work involved in this field, as well as highlighting their most recent projects. A post-pandemic surge in demandAs planes take to the sky in increasingly larger numbers, so too do their engines – and those engines sometimes need a complete refresh. Among the most frequently requested services are partial or full engine performance restoration, which entails removing the engine from the wing and sending it to a maintenance facility.

The industry is facing a shortage of aviation professionals nearing 600K skilled personnel over the coming decade. Despite aviation maintenance growing to meet the demand, the ability to find, train, and retain qualified technicians has become a bottleneck across Europe. Jan Kotka, Managing Director of Magnetic MRO, elaborates, "Like other companies in this sector, we are also navigating this increasingly urgent workforce challenge. In the past 12 months, we've hired 64 new people – primarily unlicensed junior staff. Yet, the number of onboarded licensed engineers during the same period is alarmingly small and indicative of a systemic talent supply gap.”

In recent years, India has emerged as one of the top three largest aviation markets, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). With an annual 8% increase in traffic over the next two decades, its fast-paced commercial growth can be attributed to domestic air travel, a young fleet, and other factors.After the recent trip to the region, Dhruv Gupta, Business Development Manager at Magnetic Engineering & Magnetic Training, provides an overview of its highlights. The current state of the marketBased on the last year’s air traffic, India is now the third-largest civil aviation market globally, with ~180 million passengers (136 M domestic, 44 M international). Throughout 2023, the industry generated an annual contribution of 53.6 billion USD to the local economy, underpinning 7.7 million jobs in the country.It's also worth noting that between 2011 and 2019, India experienced an impressive double-digit average annual growth rate of 10.3% in air passenger Origin-Destination (O-D) departures. Following the disruption caused by the pandemic, in 2024, India's traffic levels surpassed their 2019 level by 10.9%, marking a fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth.“The aforementioned "growth spurts" signify the rapid development of the aviation market within India's borders and beyond. From a personal perspective, that has also been notable while attending global industry events hosted locally, such as Airline Economics and others. They are still smaller in size, but the interest is certainly there as the major players are attending. The same confirmation has been received when meeting current and potential partners in 2025, with a focus on MROs and airlines.To illustrate the scope, IndiGo alone has more than 2.5K flights a day. However, the regional maintenance capacity is not there yet, topped by the lack of infrastructure, so this in combination makes them rely on Europe and the US to fulfill the demand. For us, the established premise on the industry’s growth also corresponds business-wise. For example, since 2023, our EASA part 147 Training organization has seen a 30% increase in demand from our India-based customers across diverse technical training categories," added Dhruv.India now ranks as the third largest air transport market in the world in terms of departing O-D passenger traffic, behind the United States and China.Of the 174.1 million passengers departing from an airport in India in 2024, more than 136.1 million flew domestically. Putting aside the pandemic disruption, the market share of domestic traffic has risen from around 72.9% a decade ago to almost 78.2% currently, reflecting the substantial network expansion undertaken by domestic carriers, notably IndiGo, as mentioned above.Lastly, one more interesting and rather market-specific observation is that in such a large market, there are not many players. IndiGo holds a monopoly if we talk about the domestic market, which has almost 53.4% market share. If we look at the international market share, it is dominated by Air India, as it is the only airline with connections to Europe, Australia, the US, and Canada.

Reflecting on 2024, the year signified pivotal turning-point milestones and challenges for the aviation industry, marked by record-breaking growth in passenger capacity, heightened safety concerns, impactful political decisions, supply chain disruptions, and evolving sustainability efforts. From the company's perspective, Magnetic achieved an 18% increase in sales targets Group-wide. Two sectors led the way: Magnetic Maintenance and Magnetic Assets, which showed growth in each business unit's bottom line. Financial Results In 2024, the Group reached Euro 172,256 thousand in revenue, Euro 15,003 thousand in EBITDA, and Euro 5,864 thousand in net profit. Revenue is divided between segments: 43% is generated by the Maintenance sector, 55% by Assets, and 1% by Talents.

Magnetic MRO, a Tallinn-based aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) provider and a sub-brand of Magnetic Group, is proud to announce the completion of its 900th base maintenance check, delivered for long-standing customer Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). Completing an extensive 6-year base maintenance check on A320neo family aircraft is a testament to the partnership and the expanding scale of maintenance operations over the years. According to the Base Maintenance Director at Magnetic MRO, Sergei Shkolnik: “This 900th check is another significant accomplishment for Magnetic MRO’s base maintenance. The project signifies the increase in pace: it has taken 11 years to reach the first 300 checks, 6 years to go from 300 to 600 checks, and 4.5 years to complete 900. Another noteworthy nuance of this 900th check is that it is performed on new generation A320neo family aircraft, which form the backbone of the European aviation single-aisle commercial fleet for the coming future.”

For years, Magnetic Group has cultivated a culture of growth and nurturing with the intention of helping our talents develop internally. As part of the initiative, we consistently offer opportunities for students across various divisions to gain real-world and hands-on experience to kick-start their careers. Steffi Sikmann, former HR Intern and now HR Assistant; Martin Paberit, former Basic Mechanic Intern and now Lead Mechanic; and Elisabeth Toomik, prior Basic Mechanic Intern and now Engine Workshop Apprentice, all three are now furthering their professional journeys at the company.