Air Works India Engineering Private Limited, one of the leading independent providers of aviation maintenance in the country, on Wednesday announced its foray into the aircraft refurbishment industry. Air Works, along with Indian ace designer, Dilip Chhabria’s company, Dilip Chhabria Design, unveiled the prototype of the interior of an aircraft in the India Aviation 2012 air show in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
This endeavour is a first of its kind in the country and the market potential is said to be huge. Indians who own their own planes currently go to the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Switzerland to get the interiors designed. The market in India consists of owners of business jets who need to refurbish the aircraft they own. An aircraft requires refurbishment every four or five years.
Vivek. N. Gaur, managing director, Airworks, said, “The market size is approximately $150-$200 million and we aim to capture 15 per cent of it in the next four or five years. We are aiming at two orders this year. Our plan is to leverage our airframe, avionics and now interior refurbishment capabilities collectively to provide customers with the option to upgrade their aircraft in terms of avionics, design and ergonomics.”
Mr Gaur said the cost of designing the aircraft interiors would be 25 per cent less than that of their international competitors. The cost of designing a business aircraft would range between $1 million to $10 million. He said the company would eye overseas markets after three years. Speaking about the concept Ravi S. Menon, executive director, Air Works said, “The important thing is that this is an Indian effort, and one of the main advantages is that the cost of labour is less here. Hence, we will be able to provide services at a very competitive price.”
The installations will be done at Hosur, Karnataka while the design part will be taken care of in the Dilip Chhabria Design facility in Pune, Maharashtra. “The prototype of the interior has been developed to provide customers a look and feel of our design capability, quality details and fit and finish,” said Chhabria, a well known name in the automotive community.