Boeing is looking to set up a facility in India for converting Boeing 737 passenger aircraft into freighters. The plane maker has shown keen interest in India lately, also announcing to set roots within the country with a new logistics center in February. It will tie up with GMR, GMR Aero Technic, an Indian maintenance, repair and overhaul provider for the freighter conversion facility in Hyderabad.

Freighter conversion in India

Boeing will use GMR Aero Technic’s airframe MRO facility at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport for 737 jet’s passenger to freighter conversion as it expects the conversion market to grow exponentially in the coming years.

Boeing India’s President, Salil Gupte, is excited that the company is bringing this capability to India and says that this line is not just for India but also for export from the country. He expects a huge demand for freighter conversion in the next couple of decades, making it a profitable enterprise. The Economic Times quotes him as saying,

“…we know that there are over 1700 aircraft to be converted over the next 20 years. About 1200 of those will be what we call standard body freighter conversions. So these narrow bodies like the 737 and about 20% of those will go to Europe, about 30% of those will be in the Americas, North and South and then the remainder will be in the Asia to Africa belt. So yes you can say about 600 for that region.

“How many would go to India specifically versus other parts of that region? We do not know. But of course, this line is not just for India but it is for the region and so we think it will be able to service more than just India.”

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Keen on India

The latest announcement comes just a month after Boeing revealed a $24 million investment for a logistics center in India. With this, the plane maker hopes to speed up access to various spare parts to help improve airframe production and aircraft availability for airlines.

The India Logistics Center will essentially be an ecosystem of comprehensive support packages with maintenance capabilities. With more convenient access to spares, the manufacturer hopes the new facility will reduce flight cancelations or grounding due to maintenance issues.

Boeing recently received a massive aircraft order from Air India and is trying to make further inroads into the country. Through these projects, it hopes to tap the growing aviation market not just in India but within the larger region in the subcontinent and beyond.

Huge scope

India is fast becoming the go-to place for aviation companies to set up facilities or research centers. Recently, Airbus and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to expand access to aerospace education and research in the country. The partnership will help foster relevant skills and develop a leading pipeline of talented workforce that will power the future of the aerospace sector in India.

Check out more Indian aviation news here.

India could also play a part in developing electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL), with aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia interested in persuading several eVTOL companies to set up manufacturing plants in India.

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Source: The Economic Times

• 

  Boeing

  Stock Code:

  BA

  Date Founded:

  1916-07-15

  CEO:

  Dave Calhoun

  Headquarters Location:

  Chicago, USA

  Key Product Lines:

  Boeing 737, Boeing 747, Boeing 757, Boeing 767, Boeing 777, Boeing 787

  Business Type:

  Planemaker