Air Deccan Chennai hangar coming up

Foundation stone laid; hangar to be complete in 8-12 months

BY A CORRESPONDENT
April 3, 2006

Air Deccan, India's first lo-budget airline, has made the first step towards its first hangar facility, with the foundation laid on Friday. The Air Deccan hangar is being developed at the Chennai Airport, and will be in keeping with international standards, said the airline's managing director Captain GR Gopinath. The hangar will provide basic and medium-level maintenance checks, and is expected to be operational within 8-12 months.

Currently, all ATR checks and maintenance are carried out in Hosur at a leased hangar. Major checks and maintenance work are done overseas

The cost of the 60,000-sq ft hangar is estimated at $5 million, and for Air Deccan, this is only the beginning. According to Gopinath, "This is just the beginning of the various investments Air Deccan plans to make in building up its infrastructure."

The Air Deccan hangar is expected to reduce maintenance expenditure and ensure timely availability of hangar space. It would reduce the downtime of the aircraft while increasing the time performance.

Gopinath said, "This hangar will augment the maintenance needs arising out of the increased number of fleet and expansion plans of Air Deccan in the coming months. We are also focusing on developing Chennai as a hub for our south operations." He also said that South India was a key sector in Air Deccan's 'road map,' as it was a growing center for travel and tourism.