Thiruvananthapuram: The work on the Rs.70-crore aircraft maintenance base being set up by Air-India in the vicinity of the Thiruvananthapuram international airport for Boeing 737-800 aircraft would commence in March.

"All issues have been sorted out. The Project Management Consultant would be finalised by February and the work would commence from March," Air-India Chairman and Managing Director V. Thulasidas told The Hindu . As per the plan, the base would be completed by March 2008.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had laid the foundation stone for the aircraft maintenance base along with that for the world-class terminal of the international airport on the city side during his last visit to the capital.

Already some buildings on the 6.07-hectare land, handed over free of cost by the Government to the national carrier, have been demolished. The quarters and other facilities set up by the construction company that had taken up the city road development project have been vacated.

The building of the loss-making Trivandum Rubber Works, on the plot, is yet to be demolished. The CMD said AI would carry out the demolition of the remaining buildings soon to commence work.

The plan is to develop the aircraft maintenance base for Maintenance Require Overhaul facility.

The day-to-day line maintenance of Boeing 737-800 aircraft, used by Air-India Express, would be carried out at the airport as aircraft used for flight operations are `brand new,' he added.

Air-India Express, the no-frills airline of AI, uses the B 737-800 having a capacity of 181 economy seats for flight operations to the Gulf countries.

Air-India expects more aircraft of the B 737-800 series to turn around from Thiruvananthapuram international airport in the coming years.

The base is being set up by Air-India Engineering Services, a subsidiary of Air-India. The decision to set up the maintenance base in the city was taken as Mumbai, the present maintenance base of AI, is already saturated.

On whether the proposed maintenance base would be able to take care of the maintenance of B-777 and B-787s, the CMD said Boeing's maintenance base coming up in Nagpur would take care of such aircraft.

AI would also join hands with Boeing in setting up the facility on the land provided by Maharashtra Government. "Most probably, a third party would be there and it would be a foreign firm.

It is yet to be finalised," he said. AIE would `substantially' increase the number of flights from Thiruvananthapuram to Abu Dhabi and `marginally' to Muscat.

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