Nagpur’s Mihan MRO to hold new workshop in 2019

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Nagpur: Finally, Air India’s Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) unit at Mihan SEZ will see some significant activity after a hiatus. Air India has decided to commission a new workshop for testing and overhauling GE engines used in Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 by the year 2019.

Initially established by Boeing the Nagpur MRO unit was later handed over to Air India as a part of the mega purchase of 112 aircraft. The unit also carries out maintenance work for third-party aircraft.

As per the official sources a whopping amount of Rs 400 crore has already been invested at the Mihan facility. The facility is carrying out airframe and other critical tests such as C-checks. But the aircraft are sent to GE’s global facilities in Europe or Singapore for other crucial tests involving the engines and for overhaul.

At Mihan, service personnel are currently being recruited. Such workshops will further sweeten the deal in the event of the sale of Air India, the official said.

The MRO facilty at the Mihan SEZ is built over 50 acres. It was set up as a joint initiative between Air India and Boeing in June 2010.

Facilities at Mihan MRO
Apart from carrying out maintenance work on Boeing 737 and 777 fleet, the facility is also allowed to conduct up to 4A checks on other aircraft. The facility has two 100×100 metre hangars to accommodate wide-bodied aircraft like Boeing 777s and 747-800s, and another 24,000 sq m area for allied work. Each of the two hangars can house four wide-bodied aircraft and six narrow-bodied aircraft at a time.

Leveraging full potential
Besides utilising the facility to maintain its fleet at Nagpur, Air India wants to leverage it for a share of the MRO market as most of the private airlines carry out these works abroad, the official added.