Trouble in the air for pvt repair shops biz

Mumbai: National Aviation Co. of India Ltd, or Nacil, the merged entity of state-run carriers Air India and Indian Airlines, is being advised to set up four aircraft repair workshops for servicing all types of aeroplanes and engines.
If Nacil follows up on its consultant Accenture Ltd’s advice, the move could potentially put pressure on the business plans of at least another dozen so-called maintenance, repair and overhaul units, or MROs, being set up by the likes of Jet Airways (India) Ltd and Kingfisher Airlines Ltd as well as a raft of ambitious start-ups to address a market that is estimated by trade body Confederation of Indian Industry to become a Rs15,840 crore annual business after four years.
Nacil’s MRO ambitions could derail other operators’ MRO plans. “If Nacil’s facilities are capable to handle all types of aircraft, then there is no point of setting up of separate projects by airlines or other MRO operators,” said Bharat Malkani, chairman of Mumbai-based MRO firm Max Aerospace and Aviation Ltd.
“Nacil will have an edge over competition as Boeing and Airbus type planes are dominating the skies,” said an airline executive, whose company flies Boeing jets, requesting anonymity. Most of the more than 310 passenger planes—projected to more than double by 2012—flying in Indian skies are either from Airbus or Boeing.
25/12/07 P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

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Categories: General Aviation Dec 2007, Jet Airways Dec 2007, Kingfisher Dec 2007, NACIL Dec 2007