A-I to set up aircraft engg base in Thiruvananthapuram

Air India will set up its aircraft engineering base in Thiruvananthapuram. This would be the airline major's first such base outside Mumbai, Air India chairman and managing director V Thulasidas said here.

Speaking to Business Standard on the sidelines of a function to inaugurate Air India's renovated office in the city, Thulasidas said that work on the project, estimated to cost up to Rs 80 crore, would begin as soon as the land was handed over to Air India by the state government. He expected the base to be ready in two-and-a-half years.

Kerala chief minister V S Achuthanandan earlier in his meeting with Air India officials assured them that the government would speed up the process of handing over 15 acres of land in the vicinity of the Thiruvananthapuram international airport at the earliest, Thulasidas said.

This engineering base for Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which is to be set up by the Air India Engineering Services, will see AI's fleet of 737 aircraft operating out of Thiruvananthapuram. Air India also plans to set up an engineering base in New Delhi but the work on the project has not been kicked off, according to Thulasidas.

The airline, which has been in the black for the past four years, has placed orders for 68 aircraft with Boeing in 2005. This combined with Indian's order for 43 aircraft has created a history of sorts making it the largest-ever order placed with Boeing in year 2005, he said.

Pointing out that the Gulf sector was the second largest revenue generator for Air India after the US sector, he said that the airline had drawn up a corporate vision which would put it among the best five in the world.

On the proposed merger of Air India and Indian, he said it had become a necessity as of now because there was no need for two airlines of the same nature to fly to destinations worldwide from the same country.

This apart, the merger is expected to give the merged entity a clout to excel in the market.

Thulasidas said Air India had been asked by the government to appoint a consultant to go into the details of the proposed merger and the report would be ready in 4 "� 6 months. The work on the merger would follow.

Thulasidas said the merged entity would have a subsidiary which would most probably be a combination of Air India's low-cost Air India Express and Indian's Alliance Air.

He added that Air India and Air India Express at present operate 120 flights from the three airports in Kerala, of which 31 are from Thiruvananthapuram.

Earlier, Thulasidas inaugurated the renovated office of Air India here. K M Kurian, commercial manager (Kerala), and H A Munaff, manager of Air India, Thiruvananthapuram, were among those who were present.