The Hindu Business Line : Air India begins work on maintenance centre

The Kerala Chief Minister, Mr V. S. Achuthanandan, at the ceremony that kicked off the civil works of the aircraft maintenance base being set up by NACIL near the Thiruvananthapuram international airport on Saturday.—

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Thiruvananthapuram, March 1 National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL), which runs Air India, plans to develop Thiruvananthapuram as an operational base for its domestic flights.

Once Thiruvananthapuram becomes an operational base for domestic flights, aircraft and crew will be stationed in the city and flights will originate from and terminate in the city.

The airline is surveying employees, for the posts of pilots and cabin crew, who are ready to be based in Thiruvananthapuram, said Mr V. Thulasidas, Chairman and Managing Director. He pointed out that the city has been an operational base for Air India Express, the company’s low-fare carrier, from February 18 this year.

Maintenance base

Air India on Saturday started construction work on its aircraft maintenance base in the city.

Speaking on the occasion, the Kerala Chief Minister, Mr V. S. Achuthanandan, said the Air India maintenance base and the ongoing construction of a new terminal building at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport are important development milestones for the city.

The State Government is also working on a master-plan for the airport, he added.

Earlier, addressing the gathering, Mr V. Thulasidas, Chairman and Managing Director, NACIL , said the proposed maintenance base in the city would be the company’s second such facility in India. The base will service the Boeing 737-800 range of aircraft currently flown by Air India’s low-fare carrier Air India Express. The maintenance base will also offer its services to other airlines, including foreign airlines, that use the Boeing 737-800, he added.The investment in the facility is expected to be over Rs 70 crore and construction will be completed in 12 months, Mr Thulasidas said.

The maintenance base is being set up on land provided to NACIL free of cost by the State Government. It will be able to accommodate 2 Boeing 737-800 aircraft at a time. Air India hopes to develop synergies between its maintenance base in Thiruvananthapuram and Brahmos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram, he added.

Flight schedule

In its summer schedule, to be launched by the end of this month, Air India will operate new flights from Thiruvananthapuram to New Delhi and Mumbai via Kochi, he said. These flights will be in addition to existing flights on the Thiruvananthapuram-Mumbai-New Delhi sector.

The flight on the Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi-New Delhi sector will operate early in the morning and that in the return direction will fly late in the evening, he said. The Mumbai-Kochi-Thiruvananthapuram flight will operate in the morning and in the return direction, in the evening.

The Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi-Mumbai flight has been scheduled to enable passengers to connect to Air India’s international flights out of Mumbai, including its non-stop Mumbai-New York flight, Mr Thulasidas added.