The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Boeing’s maintenance base to come up

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Thursday, Jan 31, 2008
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Boeing’s maintenance base to come up

Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Air India’s Rs. 70-crore aircraft maintenance base, being set up near the new international terminal here, will be a joint venture of the national carrier and US-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing.

Boeing has agreed to set up the maintenance base near Chakka and a unit of the aircraft maintenance-cum-training facility coming up at Nagpur in Maharashtra, Chairman and Managing Director, AI, Vasudevan Thulasidas told The Hindu.

The base here will take care of the day-to-day line maintenance of Boeing 737-800 aircraft used by Air-India Express, the no-frills airline of AI.

Once the base is made a joint venture of AI and Boeing, more airlines from India and abroad would arrive in the capital, he said.

Free land

Mr. Thulasidas said the construction work of the base, coming up in 6.07 hectares of land provided free by the State government, would begin on February 25.

The shifting of the heavy machinery from Trivandrum Rubber Works, which is situated in the land handed over to AI has commenced. “It will take two to three weeks,” he said. Once the machinery is removed, the demolition of the buildings of Rubber Works will be taken up. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had laid the foundation stone for the aircraft maintenance base in November 2006.

The national carrier had appointed Mumbai-based Mukesh Associates as the project management consultants. Soil testing is over and tenders have already been finalised.

“We hope to complete the aircraft maintenance base in 12 months,” Mr. Thulasidas said.

The national carrier has plans to make Thiruvananthapuram a base. As per this, some flights will be stationed in the international airport.

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