âIt is a massive win for Karnataka and Bengaluru as a city because they would have been up against Hyderabad for this, or Air India could have chosen to expand in Nagpur. This indicates to me that Air India is planning various long haul operations from Bengaluru in the future,â Rishi Jain, proprietor of Jain Aviation Consultants, said.
In light of increasing air passenger traffic and the record plane orders placed by Indian carriers in recent time, the domestic aviation market has a sizeable MRO appetite.
Tata Advanced Systems, meanwhile, has planned three projects with an investment of Rs 1,030 crore.
These include a passenger-to-freighter aircraft conversion facility (Rs 420 crore), a gun manufacturing facility (Rs 310 crore) and defence research and development (Rs 300 crore). These ventures are expected to generate over 450 skilled jobs.
As per the state government, the gun manufacturing facility will source 50% of its 13,000 parts from Karnataka, which is estimated to provide employment to 2,000-3,000 people across 300-350 small and medium enterprises.
âThis means big business for Air India because there is a shortage of cargo conversion slots in the industry currently. The list includes a waiting period of years, not months,â an industry watcher who did not wish to be named, said.
âThe agreement with the government and Bangalore International Airport comes at an opportune time and will not only bolster the stateâs aviation ecosystem, but also be a step ahead in our mission to become a world-class airline and provide our customers the elevated travel experience that they truly deserve,â Air India Chief Executive Campbell Wilson said.
