MRO centre to boost flight operations at airport by year end

CHENNAI: The Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) centre is set to be established at Chennai International Airport by the end of this year.

Once the MRO is operational, there will be significant reduction in the turnaround time for flights facing technical snags, eliminating the need for passengers to endure lengthy delays of a day or two.

The Airport Authority of India (AAI) had primarily decided to construct the MRO at the backside of the airport but failed to find a suitable location after which they approached the state government to allocate land. Subsequently in 2022, the government, in collaboration with the Chengalpattu Revenue Department, acquired 32,300 sq feet of land from Gaul Bazar, situated on the East side of the runway.

Following this, the AAI commenced work to establish the MRO centre. However, since the priority at that time was the inauguration of the new intergrated terminal, the MRO project was postponed.

Recently, Shaurya Aeronautics signed an agreement with the AAI to establish the MRO centre at Chennai Airport. Under this agreement, the said firm will manage the MRO centre for the next 15 years. The establishment of the centre is expected to streamline aircraft maintenance processes, reducing repair time and minimizing the probability of flight cancellations. At present, when international flights face technical snags, they are parked on the runway for a day or two due to unavailability of parts in Chennai. However, once the MRO centre is operational in Chennai, all flights can be repaired quickly. The airport officials believe that this development will help many airlines to operate their flights at Chennai airport and increase flight operations in the region.