Maharashtra Airport Development to pick 25% stake in Duke Aviation

Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) has expressed interest in acquisition of 25% stake in Duke Aviation's upcoming maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in the special economic zone at Nagpur.
However, for the stake, the MADC will offer about 30 acres of land to Duke Aviation which plans to undertake heavy maintenance of aircraft at the MRO facility.
It may be noted that the MADC has already handed over six acres of land for Rs 60 lakh to Duke Aviation, where a Bhoomi Pujan would be done on February 5.
Duke Aviation plans to invest Rs 725 crore in five SBUs including the MRO facility spread over 36 acres in the Nagpur SEZ, which could be operational by the end of 2011.
Company official said, the first SBU is being established at an investment of Rs 140 crore and will be partially operational by October 2009.
The maintenance is considered as the third largest segment of the operating cost of an airline.
According to latest study, carriers spend as much as $100 million towards maintenance expenses every year for maintaining narrow and wide body aircraft, which are typically sent overseas to MRO providers in Singapore and Middle East.
03/02/09 Poonam Das/Stock Watch

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Categories: Airports Feb 2009, Indian Aviation- In General Feb 2009