Aviation Ministry keen to set MRO facilities at small, medium airports

The Civil Aviation Ministry is contemplating to set up MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facilities at small and medium airports India.

A strong MRO is needed in order to support the fast growing aviation industry. MRO business in India is pegged at $800 million (approx Rs 4,400 crore) at present, and is estimated to grow to $1.5 billion (approx Rs 8,250 crore) by 2020. Recently, the Central Government has given approval to Air India to hive-off Air India Engineering Services and Air India Transport Services into wholly owned subsidiaries of the airline. The Engineering Services subsidiary will handle MRO, while the Transport Services will take care of ground handling services like ticket check-in.