Safran mulls India engine repair plant after mega Airbus order

Bloomberg

France’s Safran SA is considering building an engine-repair facility in India, after winning its biggest-ever turbine deal last month with joint venture partner General Electric Co.
The project would be aimed at customers of the venture, CFM International, which was selected by IndiGo, the nation’s top airline, to supply engines for 310 new Airbus SE A320-family aircraft.
A final decision and the timing of any project will be linked to global industry recovery and demand for engine maintenance, repair and overhaul services after the pandemic, a Safran spokesperson said in
response to queries from Bloomberg News.
CFM has shortlisted the southern Indian city of Hyderabad and an under-construction airport near the capital of New Delhi as two possible locations, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified because the details are private.
The facility would bolster India’s aviation infrastructure, providing a platform for further growth in a key long-term market for Airbus and US rival Boeing Co. Before the pandemic, carriers in the country were ordering hundreds of new jets — the May order added to CFM’s existing $20 billion contract with IndiGo to power 280 jets with its LEAP-1A engines.
A spokesman for India’s civil aviation ministry didn’t immediately respond to requests for comments.
IndiGo, operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, is the world’s biggest customer for Airbus’s best-selling A320neo-family of jets, having ordered 730 of the models.
India’s rising middle class, and a plethora of competition, has made it a robust target for airlines as millions take to the skies for the first time.
Aviation grew at a rate of more than 10% annually for a decade before Covid hit, according to the government. The International Air Transport Association expects the country to become the third largest air-transport market in the world by 2026, catapulting from seventh in 2018.