Saudia Group woos Air India, IndiGo for its mega MRO facility | Business News
The Saudia Group is keen to pitch its upcoming mega maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility to Indian carriers, and has already approached Tata group carrier Air India for the same, a senior executive with the Saudi Arabian aviation conglomerate said. The group also plans to soon discuss the MRO-related possibilities with India’s largest airline IndiGo.
“We know airlines in India, not just Air India, are using European MROs. So, we want to be on their radar for their maintenance activities,” said Saudia Group spokesperson Abdullah M. Alshahrani on the sidelines of the CAPA India Aviation Summit in Delhi.
Once fully operational next year, the facility—Saudia Technic’s MRO Village—will be the largest MRO in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Spread over 1 million square metres, the MRO Village will have multiple hangars and engine and component shops.
It is expected to soon become an Airbus-authorised maintenance centre catering to the Airbus A320 family of aircraft. Alshahrani said that the facility would also be maintainence centre for Boeing 787 aircraft and the CFM LEAP engines. Air India has both A320 family and Boeing 787 aircraft in its fleet, while IndiGo’s jet aircraft fleet is almost entirely made up of the A320 family. With both airlines placed mega aircraft orders last year.
India represents a priority market for the Saudia Group, not just for its upcoming MRO, but also for the group’s airlines—Saudia and Riyadh Air. While Saudia is a legacy carrier, Riyadh Air is set to start operations next year.
The Saudia Group is keen densify its network with more direct flights between Saudi Arabia and India, and wants Indian airlines to do the same, Saudia Group Director General Ibrahim Al-Omar said during a session at the CAPA India summit. Saudia currently operates 54 weekly flights from Saudi Arabia to seven destinations in India, and Riyadh Air will also have Indian cities in its network.
According to Saudia Group executives, there is “leakage” of around 25 per cent in air traffic between Saudi Arabia and India. This basically means that 25 per cent of passengers flying between the two countries are doing so via a third country. The Group believes that Indian and Saudi Arabian airlines should work together to minimise this “leakage” and launch more direct services from more airports. According to Alshahrani, the issue came up in a recent discussion between the top executives of Saudia and Air India.
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