"The PIA's maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business is now in the expansion phase with an increase in the number of customers from 14 to 40. PIA has earned Rs 1.1 billion in the year 2011 through MRO business while the revenue set for the year 2012 is Rs 1.4 billion."
The six-member team from Embassy of US in Pakistan led by William Martin, Consul General of US in Karachi, visited PIA Head Office and PIA MRO facility. The US delegation showed keen interest in airline's engineering capabilities including Avionics Overhaul, Base Maintenance Division, Engine Shop Welding, Heat Treatment Shop, APU Test Facility and Ispahani Hangar where 'D' check of a Boeing 777 was in progress. With PIA engineering capabilities and vast infrastructure would serve as a solid foundation for the growth of MRO business in Pakistan. This was stated by PIA Deputy Managing Director Salim Sayani, while briefing a delegation from US Embassy in Pakistan at the airline's Head Office.
The original equipment manufacturers (OEMS) like Boeing Company, Airbus and General Electric have shown keen interest in PK-MRO Business. Recognising the great potential in PIA's MRO capabilities, the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has granted PIA Rs 58 million (dollars 864,000) to conduct a thorough feasibility for this business.
The US delegation showed confidence and satisfaction over PIA and its engineering potentials. "The joint initiative taken underscores the confidence and trust in PIA's engineering capabilities to create state of the art MRO facility in the region that will generate revenue of dollars 100 million and around 5,000 jobs in Pakistan by the year 2020," a PIA statement said here on Wednesday.
The South Asian and Middle Eastern MRO markets are expected to grow into nine billion dollars market. The delegation was given a warm welcome by PIA's Deputy Managing Director Salim Sayani, Director Engineering PIA Maqsood Ahmed, chief engineers and senior officials of the airline.
The delegation also visited Precision Engineering Complex where parts are manufactured for airline industry such as Airbus, Boeing and General Electric. The delegation also visited the flight simulators of Boeing 747, 737 and the latest flight simulator of Boeing 777 recently installed.
PIA's Deputy Managing Director said that PIA's five-Year Business plan was focused on turning cost centres into revenue centres and focused approach would greatly help PIA return to profitability. The US team included Richard Albright, Economic Officer, US Consulate Karachi; Fahd Zaidi, Economist, US Consulate Karachi and Reid Creedon, Chief of Staff US Embassy Islamabad.-PR
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