Air India MRO at Thiruvananthapuram to get Rs 125 cr facelift

The Air India Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul facility (MRO) here is all set to get a facelift at a cost of Rs 125 crore, with a proposed additional hanger having a capacity to induct two aircraft at a time.

The proposed hanger would have an aircraft painting facility, a scrap yard, new office and maintenance complex and many more, Safety Manager of the Air India Engineering Services Ltd.(AIESL), Shrey Gupta told reporters.

"... Our target is to capture the aircraft maintenance market which is right now being done in foreign countries like Singapore and Sri Lanka," he said.

Explaining the functioning of the MRO facility at the site located close to the International Airport here, Air India officials said there was a growing demand for MRO services, including spares and overall maintenance.

The MRO, operated by the Air India, is part of its engineering services subsidiary, AIESL.

AIESL Chief Maintenance Manager Prasanth Gosavi said the facility has already signed a contract with the Spice Jet and a bid has been submitted for Fly Dubai and Oman Air.

"We aim to become a single point facility for aircraft maintenance. We are targeting the private airlines from India and abroad also," Gosavi said.

The MRO here has got a twin hanger facility to maintain narrow bodied aircrafts (Airbus and Boeing).

"At present we carry out major maintenance of Boeing 737 fleet, modifications and has got DGCA and FAA approved shops for wheels and brakes, oxygen bottles, batteries, pressure vessel testing, boroscopic inspection and many more," he said.

The Air India official also said the revenue earned by the AIESL in 2015-16 was over Rs 39.5 crore, but in the last financial year, it had gone up to 91.60 crore.

"Our target is to achieve more than Rs 120 crore revenue in this financial year," he said.

While the central government was keen to disinvest the national carrier, MRO continues to expand its business.

The AIESL was established in 2013 and at present, the MRO facilities are located in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Kolkata and Nagpur.