Air India, the national carrier of India, has big plans on MRO (also called Maintenance and Repair Operations). Taking a comprehensive stock of its financial position and working out a strategy to make a turnaround in the next 6 years, the carrier seems to be eyeing the money pie in the MRO operations. With aviation sector taking to the air and a number of carriers coming up with their own fleets of the aircrafts, MRO is one segment which will have considerable demand in future. While it is true that most of the carriers are debt ridden at this stage, it is also a fact that the government cannot keep the sector under unhealthy policy paradigms for long.

MRO activities hold immense importance since these directly impact the safety of air passengers. Civil aviation regulations do prescribe regular checks on aircraft repair and maintenance needs and these are done periodically. These checks are categorized into different levels depending upon the age of the craft (the number of hours it has flown, the routes it has flown, etc.). The most comprehensive assessment costs million of dollars where the aircraft is literally remade from scratch.

MRO has not been a very focused area for the airlines in India which is all set to get a lot of importance in years to come. For this reasons, the move of Air India to use the huge Nagpur facility for MRO operations for its own fleet assumes a lot of importance.  The facility is currently being developed over a land area of 50 acres by Larsen and Toubro and is expected to be ready by mid 2015. This facility will be a part of the Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL)and will have two hangers that will be able to provide services to 300 aircraft in a year.

Besides the Nagpur facility, another facility at Thiruvananthapuram is also likely to be commissioned for MRO works. AI is also planning to have a separate contract with GE for third party engine related maintenance works. Quite clearly, AI is having MRO as a key component of its overall strategy to make a turnaround and be profitable.