Page 21 - AAA OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2019 Online Magazine

[ MAINTENANCE REPAIR OVERHAUL ]
the fleet size likely to double by 2020, the need “The GATL is the sole MRO provider in South Asia region with FAA
for a strong domestic MRO industry is critical approval in place offering fully equipped workshops and aircraft
and not just desirable. painting capabilities to handle requirements for B737, A320, ATR
and Bombardier Q400. It is currently developing capabilities to
Making an India Entry include MRO capabilities for wide body aircraft and the new B737
Illinois-based AAR recently announced a joint MAX variant among others,” says an official at the MRO unit. All
venture with Indamer Aviation, a leading avia- aircraft owned by India can be certified by the DGCA (Director
tion company in India, for the development of General of Civil Aviation), which is backed by the licences India
a new airframe maintenance, repair and over- has procured from the OEMs.
haul (MRO) facility in western Indian city of
Nagpur. The new MRO facility, which is already But when the aircraft is leased, apart from DGCA certification the
under construction, will initially comprise six airplanes have to be certified by an MRO accredited with the FAA,
narrow-body bays, including one bay for paint. or by the EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency). Currently, the
Additional phases are planned for a total of 16 GATL holds the largest share of the market for outsourced airframe
bays, as well as component repair shops. base maintenance MRO business in India, backed by a wide set
of approvals and certifications from across the globe including
The MRO will serve India’s fast-growing com- DGCA and EASA.
mercial aviation market and is scheduled to
open in the fall with FAA, EASA and DGCA cer-
tifications. Fully aligned with the ‘Make In India’
initiative, the facility will employ Indian nationals,
including some of the existing Indamer work-
force. A training school under Indamer’s CAR
147 certification and the government of India’s
Skill Development Program will allow hundreds
of students to gain skill sets and employment.
The initial group of students will receive prac-
tical training at one of AAR’s MRO facilities in
the United States.

“WE ARE EXCITED TO EXPAND
AAR’S MRO EXPERTISE OUTSIDE OF
THE AMERICAS IN PARTNERSHIP
WITH INDAMER, WHICH HAS THE
LOCAL MARKET AND CULTURAL There are also talks that the Tata-Singapore Airlines venture Vistara,
which plans to induct more aircraft into its fleet from the Airbus
KNOWLEDGE NEEDED FOR A320/A321neo family, has outsourced its engineering support ser-
SUCCESS,” says John Holmes, President & vices to original equipment maker Airbus and is also negotiating
Chief Executive Officer, AAR. with home-grown AirWorks for MRO of its fleet.
“WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO
BRINGING OUR MRO EXPERIENCE Unlike Thailand, India has a larger fleet of aircraft of various types.
India’s largest MRO -Air India Engineering Services Ltd. (AIESL),
TO CENTRAL INDIA TO HELP SERVE which till recently was doing maintenance of only national carrier
THE COUNTRY’S FAST-GROWING Air India’s aircraft, has decided to take in airplanes belonging to
AIRLINES.” other airlines.
Currently, within India, AIESL has facilities at Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata,
Hyderabad, Nagpur and Thiruvananthapuram where, apart from Air
Waiting for Growth India aircraft it services airplanes of other airlines.
India’s GMR Aero Technic Ltd. (GATL), a
100 percent subsidiary of GMR Hyderabad “AIESL marketing team is already in touch with various airlines…
International Airport Ltd. (GHIAL), received and we are hopeful to sign up with new operators like AirAsia
the prestigious Federal Aviation Administration Berhad, AirAsia Thailand, Unitop China, VietJet of Vietnam, Kalitta
(FAA) approval on popular narrow body air- Air, Thai Smile, CEBU Pacific Manila, Oman Air and Sri Lankan
craft (B737/A320). The FAA approval will make Airlines for additional stations in India. In addition to this, AIESL
GATL an authorised MRO services provider for has also entered into agreements with domestic operators like Jet
all ‘C’ checks for FAA registered B737/A320 Airways, GoAir, AirAsia India and SpiceJet to carry out their base
aircraft and for NDT (non-destructive testing) maintenance work at MRO facilities of AIESL in India,” an official
inspections. of AIESL informs.

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