Indonesia's Sriwijaya Air plans to start building its own maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility by 2014.
The facility, which the airline plans to build within two years, is expected to save Sriwijaya up to $50 million annually in maintenance costs, said its corporate planning and business development director, Jefferson Jauwena, at an interview with Flightglobal Pro in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The airline is in talks with airport operator Angkasa Pura II to secure land at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to house the facility, Jauwena added.
The hangar will be able to hold four narrowbodies and service both Embraer E-Jets and Boeing 737s.
The Jakarta-based carrier is already handling its own line maintenance, but wants to do heavy checks as well with the opening of the new facility, making it self-sufficient in maintaining its aircraft.
"There are no MRO in Indonesia that can service Embraers, so since we've ordered them, it only makes sense for us to service them in-house rather than send them to China, Japan or Australia," said Jauwena.
Having its own hangar would make economic sense if the airline achieves its target of expanding its fleet to 60 aircraft by 2015, Jauwena added.
The carrier plans to perform maintenance checks for third parties at its new facility, although it is likely to continue outsourcing engine overhauls.
Sriwijaya operates a fleet of 32 737-200/300/400s and has 10 737-800s and 20 E-190s on order.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
