

Air India’s Bengaluru MRO facility commissioning delayed amid incomplete construction
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Air India has pushed the start of its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru by at least a year to January–March 2027, as construction remains unfinished, according to three people familiar with the matter.The airline’s inability to source construction materials including steel and bolts from domestic manufacturers is the key reason for the delay.Planned on a 35-acre site, the facility, designed with 12 hangar bays to service both narrow-body and wide-body aircraft, is still under construction, one of the persons quoted said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.In its first phase it will have 3 widebody and 2 narrowbody hangar bays. Hangars are spaces where aircrafts are parked, maintained, and repaired.
As of April, Air India has 126 narrow-body and 60 wide-body jets.“There are construction delays pertaining to steel and some of the bolts required, and the airline is working with engineers and partners to expedite this as quickly as possible,” the second person quoted above said, confirming that the original timeline of early 2026 has been pushed back.The delay is largely due to the complexity of the hangar structure. “The hangar is a very large structure with an unsupported roof, which requires particularly high-grade steel and bolts in large quantities.
There is no single provider that has been able to supply the required volume at the expected quality and speed,” the person said.Suppliers had initially committed to delivering the materials but later struggled to meet the required specifications and scale. While sourcing is being done domestically, production timelines have been longer than anticipated.The
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