March 7 (Reuters) - British aerospace supplier Melrose raised its profit outlook for this year by 30 million pounds on Thursday, buoyed by pent-up demand in civil aviation, after it posted a surge in 2023 profit ahead of market view.

The owner of GKN Aerospace, which counts Airbus and Boeing as its top customers, has recovered strongly from the pandemic lows, thanks to increased airline traffic and easing supply chain troubles.

However, the recent Boeing 737 MAX 9 crisis has tempered industry expectations of a faster rate of profit growth.

The American planemaker came under fire from regulators and lawmakers after a Jan. 5 mid-air blowout on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 that rocked the aerospace industry.

Melrose, which supplies airframe structures and engine components to the aerospace sector, said there remained revenue headwinds from industry-wide supply chain issues, as well as short-term destocking due to the phasing of commercial aircraft build rates, and the impact of planned exits and disposals in its structures division.

Melrose, which spun off its auto and other businesses last year to become a pure-play aerospace supplier, said adjusted operating profit from continuing operations for the year ended Dec. 31 surged more than three-fold to 390 million pounds ($496.6 million), ahead of LSEG analysts' average estimates of 327.2 million pounds.

The company proposed a final dividend of 3.5 pence per share for 2023. ($1 = 0.7854 pounds)

(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman )