Air India MRO Competitor Expands Line Maintenance To Trichy Airport

MRO

Air India MRO Competitor Expands Line Maintenance To Trichy Airport

Aviation Daily Jan 06 , 2011 , p. 17

Neelam Mathews

Air Works India Engineering, India’s only private maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) third-party provider, is expanding its line maintenance capabilities with the inauguration of facilities at Trichy International Airport, its second client after Bengaluru International Airport. Air Works, which plans to start line maintenance at many airports, including its next facility at a non-metro airport in South India, will be a worthy competitor to national carrier Air India in Trichy and Bengaluru and will be in a position to “offer better rates and the ability to turn around an aircraft faster,” says Dhiraj Chhabra, associate VP-marketing. Line maintenance is minor maintenance carried out on aircraft in service en route and stopped before its next flight to ensure it is fit for the flight. “On-time performance is an essential for international airlines. It is important, therefore, to have people available at the right time so as to avoid any delays. We can provide that,” says Chhabra. While the trend is for airlines to do their own line maintenance, large Indian carriers, such as Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, generally do not outsource. It makes economic sense for them to look at a third-party provider because of its faster turnaround time, claims Chhabra. Another motive is to tap further business. “Our presence in line maintenance also helps enhance our credibility for base maintenance as well. We expect to tap customers from the Middle East and Southeast Asia—within the five-hour flying range,” says Chhabra.