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The country’s first privately-owned helicopter manufacturing unit will come up at GMR’s aviation SEZ at GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (Rajiv Gandhi International Airport) at Shamshabad in Hyderabad.

R Jaisinghani, CEO, GHIAL, told a group of visiting journalists that Indian Rotorcraft, a joint venture between Tatas and Italian helicopter company AgustaWestland, will set up a helicopter manufacturing unit at GMR’s aviation SEZ at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.

“The proposal is finalised. We are now finalising the location in the airport area. The work on the unit is likely to be started within three to four months. The Tatas and AugustaWestland had decided to go ahead with the project within the airport as that will provide them with the Greenfield and other infrastructural benefits,” Jaisinghani said.

The joint venture company will be responsible for final assembly, completion and delivery while AgustaWestland will retain the responsibility for marketing and sales. The land required for the unit is 20 acres.

MRO facility

Realising the potential of the airline industry with increasing demand for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, a new facility is set up in Hyderabad by MAS-GMR Aerospace Engineering Co Ltd (MGAE).

MGAE is a joint venture between GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited and Malaysian Aerospace Engineering Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines System Bhd (MAS) to facilitate heavy maintenance of the aircraft. There is a total of three narrow body and one wide body maintenance bays at the Hyderabad International Airport. This is the first MRO facility in India among private airlines.

“Normally, an empty aircraft had to be flown to Malaysia, Dubai, Singapore for maintenance of the aircraft. With the MRO in Hyderabad, it would definitely help the Indian aircraft,” said Jaisinghani. The MRO is equipped with capability to provide base maintenance services. The first aircraft which rolled out of the MRO facility was SpiceJet flight, on November 1, 2011.

So far, Indian airline aircraft used to fly to MRO facilities abroad, a wasted flight with no revenue. As MRO is situated in Hyderabad, the aircraft need not be flown abroad. 

An aircraft that requires maintenance can disgorge its passengers in Hyderabad, get serviced, and fly back with passengers from Hyderabad airport. The majority of the staff at the MRO were trained in Malaysia for two years, as it is a highly skilled job, he added.

The MAS-GMR Aerospace Engineering Co Ltd is located on a 250-acre facility and offers base maintenance services starting with C-checks for narrow bodied aircraft like Airbus A 320 and Boeing 737 including the B-737 Classic and B-737 next generation aircraft. It will save foreign exchange and aircraft downtime for airline companies.