MRO
Industry
Current State of
Airlines in India have risen up to this increase in demand of cargo volumes and have requisitioned the services of Indian MROs to temporarily convert their aircraft from passenger to cargo/freighters
Indian MRO Industry by Pulak Sen
T
he Novel Corona pandemic has had the greatest impact on the global economy in general and the aviation industry in particular. The global aviation industry is now limping back with some restrictions. Needless to say, that the global MRO industry has also taken a beating. On March 24, 2020, the Government of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, limiting movement of the entire 1.3 billion population of India as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic in India, bringing the country to a standstill.
At the time of the lockdown the Indian Aircraft Registry had a total of 690 aircraft on its books of various airlines. IndiGo fleet is the largest with a total of 274 aircraft, a mix of A320 family and ATRs, followed by the Indian national carrier with 155 aircraft consisting of Boeings, Airbus and ATRs, followed by SpiceJet with 109 aircraft consisting of Boeing 737s and Q400s. With the Government launching its Vande Bharat Mission to evacuate Indian and other nationals stuck in various destination all over the world, Air India initially played a vital role and other airlines followed suit.
PHOTOGRAPH: AIESL
Heavy Maintenance at AIESL
SP’S AIRBUZ • Issue 6 • 2020
15
