Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Work apace on aircraft maintenance base

A sketch of the proposed aircraft maintenance base.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The civil works for Air India’s (AI) aircraft maintenance base, a joint venture of the AI and the U.S.-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing being set up near the upcoming world class international terminal of the airport here, is progressing ahead of schedule.

The base, being constructed at a cost of Rs.70 crore, will come up in 6.07 hectares of land provided free by the State government to the AI. “The civil works are progressing and are ahead of the schedule. The work is being carried out round the clock,” according to H.A. Munaff, Manager, National Aviation Company of India (NACIL), Thiruvananthapuram. Air India and Indian were merged to set up the NACIL.

The pillars of the base have been completed already. The delay in demolishing the buildings of the Trivandrum Rubber Works and other structures on the land was the main hurdle to commencing the work for the base. Mr. Munaff said civil works on the base can be begun only in June.

The first phase of the aircraft maintenance base will be completed in 12 months. Mr. Munaff said the base will be ready by March 2009. The taxiway to link the existing runway to the base has to be constructed. Two aircraft can be handled at the base simultaneously.

Already, Boeing has agreed to set up the maintenance base near Chaka as a unit of the aircraft maintenance-cum-training facility coming up at Nagpur. 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 the national carrier.

The national carrier is gradually withdrawing Air India flights operating to destinations in the Gulf and is replacing it with Air India Express. The airline hopes that more airlines from within the country and abroad, especially Gulf countries, would arrive here once the base is commissioned.

The maintenance of other aircraft being manufactured by Boeing will be taken care at the aircraft maintenance base in the later stages. Already, the national carrier has also made the premier airport of the State a base for AIE operations to Gulf destinations.

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