Foreign aircraft to land at Air India's Nagpur MRO facility for maintenance, nearly a decade since its inception

New Delhi: The Air India Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) depot, located in Mihan-SEZ in Nagpur, is on the verge of welcoming its inaugural foreign aircraft, after nearly a decade of operation.

The MRO facility commenced its operations in 2015 in Nagpur, and now, a Boeing 777 originating from Kuwait is scheduled to touch down there within the next four to five days for a vital C check procedure.

Originally planned to be operated by the US aircraft manufacturer Boeing, this MRO facility marked one of the early significant investments in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) located in Nagpur.

This MRO facility was established as part of an offset agreement stemming from the purchase of 111 aircraft for Air India and other Indian airlines.

The Boeing 777 aircraft from Kuwait is scheduled to arrive at the MRO facility within the next 4 to 5 days for a C check, which constitutes an advanced-level maintenance task. This marks the first instance where the MRO will directly serve a foreign airline, although the primary mandate for units in the SEZ is the export of goods or services.

Units within an SEZ benefit from tax relief, and this SEZ also hosts another MRO operated by AAR Indamer Technics Private Ltd, primarily servicing Indigo Airlines.

Each SEZ unit is required to generate net foreign exchange earnings (NFE) through exports. Initially, the MRO was intended to export aircraft maintenance services to foreign carriers, but Boeing withdrew from the project, subsequently handing it over to Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL), a subsidiary of the former Air India.

The announcement of the Boeing MRO's establishment dates back to 2005 when it was anticipated that airlines from around the world would choose Nagpur as their maintenance destination due to its advantageous geographical location.