Air India Starts Construction Of Maintenance, Repair, And Overhaul Facility In Bengaluru

Air India started the construction of a mega maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Bengaluru on Wednesday with an investment of Rs 1,400 crore. Once completed, the MRO is expected to generate over 1,200 new job opportunities for skilled aviation engineers in India and support over 200 small and medium enterprises in Karnataka through an enhanced supply chain.

The MRO facility, being built on a 35-acre land parcel at the Kempegowda International Airport, will become an important hub for Air India group airlines' aircraft maintenance operations in the region as it modernises its fleet and expands its global operations, the company said in a release.

The MRO will also support Air India's plans to make Bengaluru one of its key hubs, boosting direct connectivity to global destinations. The upcoming MRO will feature a mega hangar to accommodate wide-body and narrow-body aircraft under a single roof for base maintenance. The facility's capacity will be further expanded to include additional hangars for servicing more aircraft, including a paint hangar.

"The Bengaluru MRO facility is coming up at an opportune time to help strengthen India’s aviation ecosystem while enhancing our in-house capabilities to maintain our fleet," Campbell Wilson, chief executive officer of Air India, said. "This is a step ahead in our mission to make Air India a world-class airline."

Wilson said 87% of narrow-body aircraft will be upgraded by next June. The retrofit programme for wide-body aircraft would start by next year.

Earlier this year, Air India had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Karnataka government to establish MRO facilities in Bengaluru. Air India has also signed an agreement with SIA Engineering Co. to be its strategic partner for the development of this MRO facility.

As the Air India-Vistara merger comes to a close, Wilson said the company is currently in the process of consolidating the airline's organisational structure, putting supporting systems together, and aligning the processes and practices of Vistara and Air India.