BIAL, IndiGo ink deal for maintenance at KIA

The Kempegowda International Airport will have an aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in its premises by March 2020. Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has inked a deal with InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, operator of the domestic carrier, IndiGo.

The 20-year agreement is to sub-lease land at the KIA premises. The MRO facility will be housed in a 13,000 sq metre hangar, to be built on a five-acre plot. The facility, the second after Delhi for InterGlobe, will be spacious enough to accommodate two narrow-bodied aircraft.

BIAL informed that the facility will be equipped with all the support infrastructure, including an engine QEC (Quick Engine Change) shop warehouse and engineering offices for all repair and maintenance. The facility will be located near the cargo complex, and will initially be open to only IndiGo aircraft.

IndiGo's Chief Operating Officer Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said: "KIA, with its strategic location, will play an even more important role going forward. It is for this reason that IndiGo decided to build a hangar as the core of our maintenance centre in the south. This facility will become operational by 2020."

BIAL Chief Executive Officer Hari Marar said IndiGo has been one of the fastest growing carriers at KIA. "The outcome of this agreement will create more connectivity and open new markets, further enhancing its growth," he said.

IndiGo currently operates 158 daily departures out of Bengaluru, including eight international flights. The airline has a fleet of over 200 aircraft, operating over 1,300 daily flights nationwide. It connects 52 domestic destinations and 16 international destinations. KIA served 32.33 million passengers in 2018.