Saudia Group keen to offer MRO services for Indian airlines

Saudia Group is keen to increase the number of flights connecting Saudia Arabia and India as well as provide MRO services to Indian carriers.

Saudia Airlines, part of the group, currently operates 54 weekly flights connecting seven destinations in India, including Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad.

An executive of the group said on Thursday it has also set up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Saudi Arabia and is keen to provide MRO services for the aircraft of Indian carriers.

The facility will be fully operational next year.

Around 1.5 million tourists from India visited Saudi Arabia last year and expectations are that the count will rise to 7.5 million by 2030, Saudia Group Director General Ibrahim Alomari said.

Speaking at the CAPA India Aviation Summit 2024, he said the group will increase the frequencies of flights between Saudi Arabia and India and want Indian airlines to increase their flights.

"We need to work together," he said while mentioning about Indian and Saudi carriers. The group will be launching its second airline Riyadh Air next year, which will have its hub in Riyadh while Saudia Airlines will continue to operate from Jeddah.

The group had discussions with Air India about the MRO village, which can accommodate 48 aircraft at a time.

The MRO village can do the work for A320 and B787 planes as well as for LEAP engines. 

It will also have the assembly lines for Brazil's plane maker Embraer and Italy's helicopter manufacturer Leonardo, according to Saudia Group's GM Corporate Communication and Media Affairs Abdullah M Alshahrani.

Indian carriers are currently using European MRO facilities, and they can look at Saudi Arabia for these services. 

The group will have discussions with the Indian airlines, he added. Saudia Airlines is upgrading its fleet and services.

For the group, Alshahrani also said there is a window for collaboration in India in terms of technology.