Aircraft repair facility plan in final stages

Mumbai: India will soon have an aircraft maintenance facility in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, which would be operated by Air Works India Engineering Pvt. Ltd.
“We are in the final stages of securing approvals from regulator director general of civil aviation,” said Ravi. S. Menon, director and group head of business development at Air Works, a firm in which publicly traded engineering company Punj Lloyd Ltd and US-based private equity firm Global Technology Investment Group hold 33% stake each. The remaining stake is held by domestic aircraft maintenance firm Air Works India.
The new maintenance, repair and overhaul, or MRO, workshop—which has seen an initial investment of $20 million (Rs97.6 crore)—opens for business at a time when domestic aviation has hit a rough patch reflected in falling passenger numbers.
The Hosur MRO will be the third such facility in the country and the first to be run by a non-airline company. National Aviation Co. of India Ltd, or Nacil, operates one in Delhi and Blue Dart Aviation Ltd has one in Mumbai. However, both service their own planes first and cater to others after that.
Most airlines in India, therefore, have no recourse but to send their planes to Europe, Dubai or Singapore for mandatory checks.
“This MRO will be able to do first four ‘C’ checks of ATR planes,” Menon said. A ‘C’ check is airframe maintenance conducted every year for the first four years of a plane’s life. The aircraft then has to undergo more extensive, or ‘D’, checks. These checks are separate from engine maintenance.
Menon said his firm will initially perform ‘C’ checks for small ATR planes, which are turboprops with up to 72 seats, and eventually graduate to medium-sized planes such as Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, which have up to 190 seats.
21/10/08 P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Oct 2008, New Oct 2008