By Chaitali Bag
An aviation boom is about to happen in India. Transportation by military aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is also included. As of now, 713 civilian aircraft are flying over India, with an additional 1,522 planes expected to arrive by 2031. By itself, this would position India as the third biggest market for commercial aircraft, after only China and the United States.
Approximately 26,000 mechanics and 31,000 pilots would be required in India within the next two decades. In addition to the 200 airports, waterdromes, and heliports that are now operational, planned, or in the works, the government has also announced the opening of 33 new domestic freight terminals, the establishment of 15 new flight training schools for pilots, and a heightened emphasis on the drone and helicopter industry. When we include in the aviation development programmes of the Government of India’s UDAN and Krishi UDAN schemes, we see a much bigger picture of better connectivity for entrepreneurs, farmers, and citizens in India’s more remote regions, more employment opportunities, and more regional industrial hubs and transportation outside of the metros.
Since these commercial aircraft, including cargo planes, helicopters, and drones, will require regular MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul), this bodes well for the MRO industry as a whole. Maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) in India is still in its early stages, with 80% of the world’s commercial aircraft undergoing MRO outside of the nation. Keep up with the growth of aircraft in India by establishing in-house MRO capabilities. The Indian private sector will be able to start making aircraft domestically now that recent big agreements in commercial and military aircraft came with a Make in India requirement.
An important step towards achieving aviation self-sufficiency has been taken with the recent announcement of a contract to build an MRO facility for the A-320 family of aircraft between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Airbus. This development is expected to strengthen the Make-in-India mission. Proving its dedication to offering commercial airlines a complete MRO solution, HAL has set its sights on building an integrated MRO centre in India.
IADB got some exclusive insights from Saket Chaturvedi, CEO MiG Complex, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited on HAL’s MRO vision for India.
Q. What is the vision of HAL for Civil MRO?
A. HAL is the largest aviation defense company in the country. We have full range of facilities, manufacturing and repair capabilities and have achieved more than 90% of self-reliance in MRO and after-sales support.
Almost 90% of the Civil MRO work is going outside the country, which is an opportunity. Hence HAL has taken major initiatives to equip the country with major MRO capabilities. Our vision is to make India a Global MRO Hub offering complete range of services to airlines whether it is Air-frame MRO, Component MRO and other specialized MRO services for which at present Indian Airlines are dependent on foreign MRO companies.
Q. How HAL is working towards the convergence mission of Govt of India?
A. The convergence Mission by Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) aims to cross-utilize the assets of Defense and Civil aviation Industries thereby achieving economies of scale and quick turnaround time for establishing new MRO capabilities by utilizing the shareable resources and infrastructure of both civil and defense.
HAL is playing an important role in realizing the goals of the convergence. Renowned third-party MROs have collaborated with us to establish the capabilities in the country.
The regulating agencies for civil and defense are different and we are making our present system to also meet all civil MRO regulatory requirements.
Q. Can you share some of the steps taken by HAL towards civil MRO vision?
A. We have taken a lot of steps towards our civil MRO vision some of them include:
1. HAL’s collaboration with Airbus is one such crucial initiative taken by HAL to establish the Higher (EASA certified) C Checks facility in the country which will be subsequently upgraded to take up Lease Return Checks and MRO of Components. This will serve a two-fold purpose, Firstly it will provide an opportunity to Airlines of the country to get the work done within the country and secondly, MRO businesses from nearby ASEAN Countries can also be attracted offering low cost and quick turnaround time.
2. Identification of HAL, Nasik as one of the center point to perform MRO of civil space including Narrow Body and General Aviation Aircraft.
3. DGCA has certified defense Hangars to take up MRO of narrow-body and general aviation aircraft.
4. We are in the process of constructing a parallel runway to enhance our flying capacity.
Q. Please provide brief details about the collaboration between Airbus and HAL for MRO of A-320 aircraft.
A. HAL and Airbus have collaborated to establish up to 6 yearly C Checks for A-320 aircraft in the country. If we see country lacks EASA approved facility for MRO services, hence the collaboration initially aims to achieve EASA approval for 6 yearly checks followed by higher order checks which the country is currently lacking and in absence of it, some of the aircraft are going outside the country for higher order checks and lease return checks.
In the collaboration arrangement, Airbus will provide a complete range of services including gap Analysis, Tools Package, Training needs of Technicians, hand-holding during the execution of 1st C Check, and EASA audit.
Once established, this will be one of its kind facility in the India offering a quick turnaround and lower cost to the Airlines.
Q. What are some of the challenges the MRO industry in the country is facing today and what strategy we should follow to mitigate them?
A. As we discussed earlier, the amount of work that the MRO industry today is performing in the county is very scanty. We have to depend a lot on foreign MRO companies, which is increasing the cost as well as the lead time, reducing the serviceability of the aircraft. I think this is the greatest challenge for the industry to establish facilities in the country for which expertise is not available.
Some of the challenges are:
1. We have very few OEM repair shops in India due to which MRO of most of the components is performed outside the country further increasing the cost and lead time. The same facilities can also be provided by HAL.
2. India is not having a parallel arrangement with European and American regulatory authorities. This increases the time to take the EASA/FAA approval for the facilities in India. So today there is a need to strike a parallel arrangement with European and American regulatory authorities.
3. Another challenge before the customers is the absence of an integrated MRO Hub in the country. As it is evident the MRO industries across the globe have thrived by establishing all the service and MRO players in a collocated area. This presents an opportunity to the customers to get all the repair work done in one place, thereby reducing the cost and cycle time, and this is how our approach is aligned in this direction.
