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Time of India
5 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Air India to recalibrate plans on Turkish Technic's maintenance works for its wide-body planes
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel New Delhi: Air India will look to send its wide-body planes, whose heavy maintenance is being done by Turkish Technic , to other MRO entities, as part of recalibrating its plans taking into cognisance the recent developments related to Turkiye, according to the airline's CEO Campbell the backdrop of Turkiye backing Pakistan and condemning India's strikes on terror camps in the neighbouring country in May, aviation security watchdog BCAS, on May 15, revoked the security clearance for Turkish company Celebi Airport Services India Pvt Ltd in the "interest of national security".On May 30, aviation safety regulator DGCA granted a one-time final extension of three months to IndiGo on damp leasing of two Boeing 777 aircraft from Turkish Airlines till August 31 but directed the airline to terminate the lease within the three-month asked about some of Air India's wide-body aircraft being sent to Turkish Technic for maintenance works, the Air India CEO and MD said it is a global business and a global supply chain."It does take a while to adjust when the circumstances change around us but we are obviously sensitive to the national sentiment and perhaps the national wishes. So, regardless of which country we are talking about, we would clearly take cognisance of what people like us to do and expect us to do," he told PTI in an maintenance works of some of the airline's wide-body B777s and B787s are done by Turkiye-based Turkish the short-term, Wilson said the airline needs to send some aircraft for MRO works overseas to places in the Middle East, South East Asia, the US and in a couple of cases, business to Turkish Technic as it will take some time for India to have the capacity to do such works."With this most recent development, we will look to recalibrate where we sent our aircraft, reduce the amount that we are sending to Turkiye and send it to other places."But that does take some time because aircraft have to be maintained... we are cognisant of recent developments and we will look to adjust our plans," he refers to Maintenance, Repair and Air India has a fleet of 191 planes, including 64 wide-body aircraft.
News18
5 hours ago
- Business
- News18
Air India To Shift From Turkish Technic's Maintenance Works Amid Diplomatic Tensions
Last Updated: Air India is reducing reliance on Turkish Technic for wide-body aircraft maintenance, amid rising tensions between India with Turkey over its support for Pakistan. In the wake of the recent strains between India and Turkey, Air India is looking to send its wide-body planes, whose heavy maintenance is being done by Turkish Technic, to other MRO entities. The move was confirmed by CEO Campbell Wilson, against the backdrop of Turkiye backing Pakistan and condemning India's strikes on terror camps in the neighbouring country following the Pahalgam terror attack. On May 15, aviation security watchdog Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) revoked the security clearance for Turkish company Celebi Airport Services India Pvt Ltd in the 'interest of national security". Later, on May 30, aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) granted a one-time final extension of three months to IndiGo on damp leasing of two Boeing 777 aircraft from Turkish Airlines till August 31 but directed the airline to terminate the lease within the three months. In an exclusive interview with news agency PTI, the Air India CEO and MD, on being asked about some of Air India's wide-body aircraft being sent to Turkish Technic for maintenance works, said it is a global business and supply chain. 'It does take a while to adjust when the circumstances change around us, but we are obviously sensitive to the national sentiment and perhaps the national wishes. So, regardless of which country we are talking about, we would clearly take cognisance of what people like us to do and expect us to do," he said. Heavy maintenance works of some of the airline's wide-body B777s and B787s are done by Turkey-based Turkish Technic. In the short term, Wilson said the airline needs to send some aircraft for MRO works overseas to places in the Middle East, South East Asia, the US and in a couple of cases, business to Turkish Technic, as it will take some time for India to have the capacity to do such works. 'With this most recent development, we will look to recalibrate where we send our aircraft, reduce the amount that we are sending to Turkiye and send it to other places. But that does take some time because aircraft have to be maintained… we are cognisant of recent developments and we will look to adjust our plans," he said. MRO refers to Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul. Currently, Air India has a fleet of 191 planes, including 64 wide-body aircraft. First Published: June 02, 2025, 07:03 IST
Hindustan Times
5 hours ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Dealing with airspace issue on rolling basis: Air India CEO
As India eyes a more prominent role in global aviation, Air India is positioning itself at the centre of that ambition. From a modernised fleet and increased international connectivity to a sharp focus on international transit traffic—the airline is rebuilding itself as a competitive global player. The airline's CEO Campbell Wilson shares his insights in an interview. Edited excerpts: With the Pakistan airspace closure resulting in losses for you, how are you dealing with the situation? Yes, we are discussing (the issue) with the government, whether they help (us financially) or not is their prerogative. One school of thought is that you say well, we don't know how long this is going to last, so let's just make a call for the rest of the year and effect some changes. But then it's very hard to wind that back if the situation improves. So, you then inconvenience customers with different routings. You've planned your crew a certain way. The other approach is to take it more on a rolling basis and say every few weeks we'll assess the situation and take a call. And so, for the moment, we're doing the latter. And we'll plan through to the end of August, and then in a couple of weeks' time we'll look and see whether that should continue. How do you see Air India's transformation contributing to India's goal of becoming a global aviation hub? The growth that we have undertaken over the past few years, we've gone from less than 100 operating aircraft as Air India-Air Express to more than 300. The investments we're making in more aircraft, 570 in the order book, and in supporting ecosystems like flight training schools, etc are contributing. We are adding much more international connectivity and have increased the number of international destinations by 25%, which is just the beginning, given the number of aircraft that we have yet to come. We've increased the cargo tonnage by three times, given people nonstop opportunity to fly to and from India to cities that previously weren't available nonstop before, and we're scheduling our flights such that people can connect through India much more conveniently than was the case in the past. While Airbus 350s are new in your fleet, what is the update on the upgrade of the older fleet? More than half of our total fleet -- both narrowbody and wide aircraft -- are either refurbished or new. So half a million people a week travel on an upgraded fleet. On the narrowbody side for the full service airline, we're about two-thirds of the way through the upgrade and we'll complete the rest of it mostly by the end of the calendar year. For the widebody fleet, about 35% of those aircraft are new A350s or aircraft that have modernised interiors. The balance aircraft are going to be upgraded over the course of the next two years. The B777s, too, have already undergone an initial refresh ahead of a full retrofit, which starts next year. In the B787s, the first aircraft goes into retrofit in July, and the rest of the 27 legacy aircraft will be upgraded over the next couple of years. So by FY2028 we should complete the upgradation and harmonisation of the fleet to modern standards. What kind of upgrades in aviation infrastructure do you think India requires, looking at the travel demand? The airport operators and the number of airports is obviously increasing. The investment being made in Navi Mumbai, in Jewar , the new terminal in Bengaluru, the future plans that exist for the Indira Gandhi International... I think investment is being made in airports. Where I have a little bit of concern is air navigation. The sheer number of new aircraft that's going to be entering India's skies is something that clearly needs to be managed well. Connecting people through India (passengers flying from one country to another through India) or I2I will play a big role in making India an aviation hub. How much progress have you made on that front? Well, the volume of I2I passengers that we carry has gone up by four times since privatisation. And it's now nearly a double-digit percentage of our international traffic. And it's come from product upgradation and becoming a more credible player and internationalised and also schedule redesign. Previously, for example, our flights coming in from Europe didn't connect to flights going to Australia. And so, why would someone choose to spend 12, 18 hours at the airport? So, by rescheduling the flights such that there's only a couple of hours transit time, you become a much more credible proposition.
India Today
13 hours ago
- Business
- India Today
Air India to move jet maintenance work from Turkey firm amid diplomatic tensions
Air India will look to send its wide-body planes, whose heavy maintenance is being done by Turkish Technic, to other MRO entities, as part of recalibrating its plans, taking into cognisance the recent developments related to Turkiye, according to the airline's CEO Campbell the backdrop of Turkiye backing Pakistan and condemning India's strikes on terror camps in the neighbouring country in May, aviation security watchdog BCAS, on May 15, revoked the security clearance for Turkish company Celebi Airport Services India Pvt Ltd in the "interest of national security".advertisementOn May 30, aviation safety regulator DGCA granted a one-time final extension of three months to IndiGo on damp leasing of two Boeing 777 aircraft from Turkish Airlines till August 31 but directed the airline to terminate the lease within the three-month period. When asked about some of Air India's wide-body aircraft being sent to Turkish Technic for maintenance works, the Air India CEO and MD said it is a global business and a global supply chain."It does take a while to adjust when the circumstances change around us, but we are obviously sensitive to national sentiment and perhaps national wishes. So, regardless of which country we are talking about, we would clearly take cognisance of what people like us to do and expect us to do," he told PTI in an maintenance work of some of the airline's wide-body B777s and B787s are done by Turkiye-based Turkish the short-term, Wilson said the airline needs to send some aircraft for MRO works overseas to places in the Middle East, South East Asia, the US and, in a couple of cases, business to Turkish Technic as it will take some time for India to have the capacity to do such works."With this most recent development, we will look to recalibrate where we sent our aircraft, reduce the amount that we are sending to Turkiye and send it to other places."But that does take some time because aircraft have to be maintained... we are cognisant of recent developments, and we will look to adjust our plans," he refers to Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul. Currently, Air India has a fleet of 191 planes, including 64 wide-body InMust Watch
Economic Times
16 hours ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Air India decides to retrofit 13 legacy A321 ceo planes
Amid supply chain woes, Air India has decided to retrofit its 13 legacy A321 ceo planes that were earlier planned to be taken out of service while the first of the airline's legacy Boeing 787-8 aircraft will go for retrofit in July. Air India, which is slowly expanding its fleet and networks, has a total of 191 planes, including 64 wide-bodies and 127 narrow-bodies. Airline's CEO and MD Campbell Wilson told PTI that the first batch of the B 787s will go in for retrofit in July as there has been a little bit of push back because of certification delay of seats. "By the end of this financial year, hopefully about 68 per cent of the wide- body fleet will be upgraded and the complete fleet will be upgraded sometime in calendar 2027," he said in an interview. There are 27 legacy B787-8s with Air India. The carrier has already started the heavy refresh programme of the legacy B777s and two of them are already back in service. Heavy refresh of an aircraft includes having new carpets, seat covers, cushions and fixing broken seats. The refresh of these planes is expected to complete by the end of this year. According to Wilson, the supply chain situation is getting progressively better. "I believe 65-68 per cent of the narrow-body fleet has been upgraded. We are eyeing to complete all of them by the end of this year. We decided to extend the life of 13 aircraft (A321 ceos) that previously were to leave the fleet and those will be upgraded in the early part of next year. "Effectively, the narrow-body fleet (upgradation) will be completed this year," he said. In the wide-body category, Air India now has 6 A350s, 19 B777-300 ERs, 5 B777-200 LRs, 7 B787-9s and 27 B787-8s. Among the narrow-body fleet are 6 A319s, 94 A320 neos, 4 A320 ceos, 13 A321 ceos and 10 A321 neos. Aircraft deliveries as well as upgradation are getting delayed for many airlines, including Air India, mainly due to global supply chain woes. "I think it (supply chain situation) is getting progressively better. There are still constraints in a number of areas... it is progressively getting better over the years but it will still take I believe until 2029 or 2030," Wilson said. According to him, the bottlenecks are different for different aircraft. "It is supply challenge for engines on narrow-body aircraft... there is the recovery of Boeing 737 programme to its previous pace. It is getting faster and meeting the milestones. They will take (for) catch up... things are just progressively easing up," the Air India CEO and MD said.
