Air India's Hyderabad MRO eyes EASA certification

Air India is in the process of obtaining the European Union Air Safety Agency's certification for its Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility here, a senior official of the state-owned carrier said on Saturday here.

"We are now trying to get EASA certification as most of the foreign Airlines look for it in order to send the aircraft to the MRO facility. If any facility has EASA certification, then the airlines will have an idea about the standards of the MRO facilIity.. Once we get that EASA will be able to good business from other airlines," Y Srinivasa Rao, General Manager (Engineering) of Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL), a wholly-owned subsidiary company of Air India Limited told reporters.

He said the company will have to make some investments into the MRO facility which is certified by the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to make it EASA compliant.

The MRO hangar at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here can accommodate two A320 family aircraft simultaneously or one wide-body aircraft such as B747 or B777. Srinivas said the MRO facility is currently offering services to the captive fleet and planning to increase shifts to two from the present one.

Presently, the unit undertakes pre-flight or weekly checks of A321, 320, 319 or ATR aircraft and provide technical assistance to other international carriers as part of comprehensive ground handling service, he said.