Hyderabad: State-run Air India will soon start operations of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) units in Hyderabad and Nagpur, a senior airline official said. The Hyderabad facility located near RajivGandhi International Airport here will provide the MRO facility for two narrow-bodied and one wide bodied aircraft. "It (Hyderabad facility) can accommodate two narrow body aircraft (two airbus aircrafts) or one wide-body in the hangers. Along with that we are having complete administrative departments moving over there as well. Complete Hyderabad operations of Air India Begumpet will be shifted to Shamshabad (new airport).
"The inauguration (of Hyderabad MRO) should happen within a few weeks, probably next month. Even Nagpur facility is ready and will be inaugurated soon just a few days after or before Hyderabad facility is done," stated an official. Both Hyderabad and Nagpur facilities are run by Air Indian Engineering Services and will cater to Air India fleet and future course of action will depend on policy decisions, the official added.
AIES has become a strategic business unit of Air India and future decisions will depend on that company. So far in the Begumpet (old airport of Hyderabad), we used to carry out C-checks. Since the airport is shifted to Shamshabad (in 2008), moving the aircraft from the new airport to the old airport for C-check has become an issue. The aircraft has to be ferried without passengers but with crew, which is quite expensive," the official explained.
The Nagpur MRO facility is a joint venture in the Nagpur aviation hub for the Airbus and Boeing fleet. AIES has recently invited expressions of interest from prospective parties, which will be followed by floating of bids. The government-run carrier, which is now a part of the 28-member global airlines elite club StarAlliance, foresees tremendous business potential for the project, as the country with around 400 planes in operations at present does not have any full-fledged MRO facility, forcing airlines to get their work done from Singapore, Dubai or even in Colombo.
AIES has a DGCA-approved facility in Mumbai. But this can handle only the landing gears of some of its Boeing fleet. Out of the 108 aircraft with Air India, 38 are from Boeing and 62 of Airbus and the rest are from regional jets, a senior official of the Ministry of Aviation had earlier said. Air India aims to set up the proposed MRO on the international industry benchmark and having approvals from overseas aviation agencies, the official had said.
