Air Transport

Air India is building a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) centre in Hyderabad at a cost of Rs800 million ($17 million).

The Indian national carrier says in a statement that it held a ceremony to mark commencement of construction at the five acre site at Hyderabad's Shamshabad airport.

A new hangar, that can accommodate one Boeing 747 or two Airbus A320s simultaneously, is to be built along with an annex building, says Air India.

It will be completed in 18 months at a cost of Rs800 million, it says, adding that it will complement Air India's MRO centres in Delhi and Mumbai.

Besides airframe maintenance, the Hyderabad centre will do component overhaul work, it adds.

Air India has FAA and EASA certification and is making a major push to develop its MRO capabilities in an effort to capitalise on the country's growing fleet of commercial aircraft.