EXCLUSIVE! Cochin International Airport moves into MRO

Neelam Mathews, Cochin, Aug 17, 2012: We’ve been hearing about CIALs plans for MRO for two years now with its two hangars ready to do business. By the looks of it, the chicken has come home to roost. CIAL will soon be signing a joint venture with a third party provider- the discussions of which are in the final stages, Aerospace Diary learns from an OEM. The announcement is expected to made in a month’s time. “The MoU has already been executed and the non disclosure agreement signed,” we are informed. The draft shareholders agreement is also being finalized. Plans are to start with 'C' checks on Boeing 737s by May 2013.

CIAL, an official informs, has kept its overheads low by building the hangar at a low cost. The facility will be provided to the JV partner through a lease agreement. CIAL presently does line maintenance for Air Arabia, Qatar, Tiger, Etihad and SriLankan at Cochin airport that gets 440 flights a week, was just given a CAR 145 for A checks on the A-320. It has also got government approval to do line maintenance in Trivandrum and in Calicut.