The Hindu Business Line : Air France KLM plans MRO facility in India

Hyderabad, Oct. 30 Air France KLM is exploring the possibility of setting up an MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facility in India once the number of aircraft seeking that service reaches certain volumes.

The airline company, with revenues of €27 billion, is currently attending the MRO needs of Indian airline clients at its Amsterdam facility.

“We are studying the situation and closely following the trend. We have a few clients like IndiGo and SpiceJet. The present volume doesn’t allow us to start an MRO. When we reach a certain volume, we will look at starting the facility here,” said Mr Warner Rootliep, General Manager, KLM.

A380 aircraft

Addressing a press conference here, Mr Rootliep said Air France is likely to operate the new generation giant A380 aircraft to Delhi and (or) Mumbai. He, however, did not give any timeframe for the induction of the aircraft into the Indian routes.

He was here to announce two weekly flights to Amsterdam from Hyderabad, taking the frequency to six. While one service would begin on October 31, the other would begin on January 8.

Meanwhile, Air France would launch an additional frequency from Chennai to Paris. The new additions would take the total number of flights offered from Air France, KLM and Northwest Airlines to 45 to various European destinations.

Route expansion

In India, the company is looking at Kolkata as the next destination. “Our next destination would be Kolkata. We have not yet decided on the timing,” Mr Rootliep said.

KLM would expand operations on the Shanghai route, while growing capacity in the Latin American network. It would increase the capacity by 14.6 per cent to the West Asian region.