Lion building major MRO base

by CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, TOM BALLANTYNE  

May 1st 2013

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Indonesian budget operator, Lion Air, whose fleet and new aircraft orders add up to a monster 750 aircraft, will open a $100 million maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) base at the Hang Nadim International Airport in Batam, Riau Islands in June. Read More »

Lion Air: to spend $400 million on two-phase MRO facility in next three years

A second phase, costing $300 million, is scheduled for operation by 2016 and will be double the size of the current six hectare site, said Lion president, Rusdi Kirana, when he signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the project last month.

Speaking at a media briefing, Lion Air heavy maintenance manager, Ronny Roozanno, said the hangar, to be staffed entirely by Indonesians, would be the first owned by the airline since it began in 2000.

The facility will have two blocks of apartments owned by the Batam Free Trade Zone Authority, with a capacity for 500 residents, to house Lion staff.

The centre will initially accommodate 12 B737-900ER narrowbody aircraft and will include component and engine shops in co-operation with U.S.-based General Electric and Canada’s Pratt & Whitney.

Lion Air has been outsourcing its MRO work to companies in Germany, New Zealand and Singapore.

Batam was chosen for the MRO centre because it is close to Singapore and is a free trade zone. “Singapore is the centre of aircraft components in Asia and is very close to Batam,” said the MRO manager.a