Air India and SpiceJet have signed an MoU at the MRO (maintenance-repair-overhaul) unit in Mihan, Nagpur, under which, AI will provide support to SpiceJet on maintenance of their Boeing 737 aircraft and landing gear replacement at AIAESL’s MRO facility in Nagpur.
On the occasion, AIAESL engineering CEO, H.R. Jagannath, said repair and maintenance of aircraft of different carriers will increase additional revenue for the airline and promote the “Make in India” initiative as various aircraft of other firms too are getting maintenance at the unit.
Arun Kashyap, vice-president, engineering and maintenance, said that SpiceJet will save nearly 25 per cent of the total maintenance cost as it would no longer have to send its aircraft abroad. He told reporters that by signing the agreement, SpiceJet would send from among its fleet of 42 aircraft to Nagpur MRO in the near future. He also said SpiceJet was in the process of acquiring 100 more aircraft in the days to come and the first SpiceJet aircraft was expected to roll into the MRO facility within two months.
The $100 million MRO facility, built by US aircraft manufacturer Boeing, occupies 50 acres of SEZ land, and is part of a deal between Air India and Boeing. The facility has two 100x100-m hangars to accommodate wide-bodied aircraft such as Boeing 777 and 787-8, and another 24,000sq m area for allied work. Mr Jagannath said the facility maintains all machines, including “D” check of wide-bodied aircraft which is mandatory for an aircraft after flying for 3,000 days. Mr Jagannath said that the role of the MRO unit is to check aircraft and perform structural repairs after which, it gets a complete makeover.
