Star Air-HAL to set up MRO unit for Embraer aircraft in India

IN a number one for southward Asia, Bengaluru-based regional bearer asterisk broadcast has tied up with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Nashik, to set up a dedicated maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) unit for Embraer aircraft in India, two officials close to development have confirmed to HT.The two partners, they say, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on September 1, which is being viewed as a milestone in India's effort to cut reliance on foreign facilities and build domestic capacity in aviation maintenance.Star Air, the aviation arm of Sanjay Ghodawat Group, operates a growing fleet of Embraer regional jets, which until now have had to depend on costly overseas hubs for heavy checks. Experts believe that Indian airlines collectively spend an estimated 15,000 crore annually on MRO work abroad, mainly in Singapore, Dubai and Europe. The new partnership, officials said, is aimed at bringing that business home."Under the agreement, HAL will provide comprehensive MRO support for Star Air's Embraer fleet and other aircraft under its contracts," one of the officials close to the development said. "It will also offer full aircraft painting services and run training programmes for its workforce in collaboration with Star Air," he added.Both Star Air and HAL remained unavailable for a comment. However, officials said that the MoU was signed in the presence of top management from both the parties. For HAL, which has long focused on defence aviation, the MoU builds on its recent move into civil aircraft maintenance, after it overhauled an IndiGo A320 Neo in March this year. "For Star Air, this tie up ensures closer access, lower costs and quicker turnaround times for its fleet," the official said. This comes as the policy reforms such as the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Package- Part 4 have called for greater integra- tion of civil and military MRO, with the stated aim of positioning India as a regional hub.Civil aviation minister Rammohan Naidu recently said that while the growth of airports in India has been tremendous, "..but at the same rate the aviation manufacturing sector, including the MRO has not grown as desired.""Till now our focus has been on building airports, connecting India and making flying affordable to the common man…But now, the focus is on aviation manufacturing...What we now need is a synergy between the manufacturers, Civil Aviation Ministry, Defence Ministry, the Union and the State Governments and agencies such HAL, NAL, DGCA to come together and plan, design, innovate and manufacture aircraft," he recently said while addressing a conference.