Aircraft maintenance steals the thunder

Riding on the civil aviation boom in India, more international and domestic majors are planning to set up maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities.

While French regional airplane maker ATR, airlines such as Air Sahara, Jet Airways are planning to set up their own maintenance facilities. The US-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing is planning to rope in an international partner for the $100 million MRO project coming up in Nagpur.

Besides Boeing, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus Industrie had announced setting up a $100 million MRO facility in Nasik.

Air Sahara is planning to set up an MRO facility for airframe and engine at an estimated investment of $150 million. "We are exploring a $150 million facility for engine and airframe overhaul with international partners. This could be either in Delhi or Kolkata. A decision on this project would be taken in six months," Alok Sharma, president, Air Sahara, told Business Standard on the sidelines of a two-day South Asia Aviation Finance Conference here.

Sharma said the MRO business was going to be very profitable in the coming years as the number of aircraft in the country would go up to 570 by 2011 against the current 299. "The modalities of the MRO structure have not yet been finalised. While we would put a part of the investment, the remaining would be sourced from international partners," he added.

The proposed MRO may service all types of aircraft, as Air Sahara is in talks with regional jet manufacturers for acquiring as many as 25 jets for enhancing the regional network. The important regional airplane makers are ATR and Bombardier.

ATR is also planning an MRO in India, as it plans to sell at least 100 aircraft in the country in the next two years. John Moore, senior vice-president (commercial), ATR, said, "It is a logical step to set up own MRO with India turning out an important market for us. We are in talks with airplane suppliers for setting up an MRO here. There could be one or more partners in this venture."

Declining to divulge investment details, Moore said, "It is too premature to comment on the investment and location."

However, ATR is in the process of setting up a distribution centre in Delhi for managing inventory and other engineering support. He added that the company was also setting up a customer support centre in Bangalore for engineering and logistics requirement to the airlines flying ATR jets.

Boeing plans to rope in an international partner for the Nagpur MRO, apart from its airline partner Air-India. "We are in talks with potential partners for the Nagpur MRO project. We will announce the name soon," Dinesh Keskar, senior vice-president (sales - commercial airplanes), Boeing, said.

Jet is also evaluating the prospect of aircraft maintenance facilities and is in talks with international engineering majors.

Jet Airways Chief Executive Officer Wolfgang Prock-Schauer refused to divulge the details of the possible partners for the MRO project.

Meanwhile, Lufthansa Technik, a German MRO major, has signed a letter of intent with Kingfisher Airlines for extending component, engine and airframe related services. The size of the deal is estimated over $150 million.

A formal announcement in this regard is expected at Aero Show 2007 tomorrow. At present, Lufthansa Technik already offers services to 17 Airbus A320 of Kingfisher.

Besides this agreement, Lufthansa Technik has decided to set up a regional component pool in New Delhi under its newly found subsidiary, One Stop Airline MRO Support.