Hyderabad: The city-based Hyderabad Aircraft Maintenance Company (Hamco), promoted by a group of experienced aviation specialists, has announced plans to set up India's first independent maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations.

Speaking to the press, Uday Naidu, co-founder, chairman and CEO, Hamco, said, "Our aim is to fill the vacuum in the Indian MRO market, by designing effective and efficient systems and building in quality control from the outset. Our proposed MRO will not only service local airlines but also attract global airlines who fly to India."

"The global market size for MROs is $36 billion per year. The Indian market is around $100 million per year. This market is expected to grow by at least 15 per cent over the next three years. With this kind of rapid growth, we definitely have a strong market to tap in to and capture a sizeable share. In fact, we already have letters of interest from a couple of airlines," he added.

The world over, the law requires airlines to have their aircraft undergo periodic checked ups. The check ups take up typically four to sixteen days depending on the number of flying hours the aircraft has put in. Only Indian Airlines, Air India and Jet Airways, which have their own MRO's, are able to maximise their returns on maintenance.

Newer airlines that have been set-up as well as the ones that are expected to be set up in the next few months could lose several millions of dollars if they have to set up and maintain their own MRO's. The option of using MRO's outside India is expensive but sometimes the only economically viable option.

Hamco's planned world class MRO presents to them a hassle-free, cost effective opportunity at hand, which will reduce turnaround times and tremendously save on cost.

Amit Prasad, co-founder and director, IT, finance and support services, Hamco said, "We are looking at Shamshabad International Airport as our first choice to start ground operations, however, we are also open to exploring other new airports like Cochin and Nagpur or other established locations as a backup plan in case our first choice does not materialise."

"In parallel, we have been having discussions with various business, strategic, financial and technical partners to further strengthen our plans and enhance Hamco's potential. Their response has been fairly positive and we are exploring all options which are expected to be firmed up within the coming weeks", he added.

Eventually, the group plans to make the facility a "one-stop-shop" for heavy maintenance, engine maintenance, component overhaul and training. The focus will be basically to capture majority of heavy maintenance, engine maintenance, component overhaul and training requirements of the various new and upcoming private airlines in India.

Hamco is also looking at opportunities to attract foreign airlines to Hyderabad for their maintenance requirements, by providing high quality and cheap maintenance. This would also be a road to encourage more Airlines to make Hyderabad their hub for operations, do night halts and maintenance halts, and thereby generate more revenue for the Airport and the Andhra Pradesh government.