Berlin, May 17, 2006 (Business Line)

European consortium Airbus Industrie said on Wednesday that it would start the process of setting up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in India next year to service the fleet of a large number of aircraft, both of public and private carriers, in the country.

"India is a booming market and it is still booming. It is growing at a rate more than China. There are big opportunities and Airbus is in the lead in India. We are not just selling aircraft but supporting our customers as well," Airbus Industrie President and CEO Gustav Humbert said at the ongoing airshow at the Schonefeld Airport here.

"We will start the process of establishing an engineering set up in India in 2007. We have been cooperating in a big way with the Indian aerospace industry. This (engineering) setup will be used to service the big fleet of our aircraft and this support will be our focus now," Humbert said.

He said the Airbus Industrie, which constitutes a major part of the European Aerospace Defence Space (EADS) consortium in terms of revenue and employment (almost 80 per cent), would also establish high-tech training centres for pilots and facilities for maintenance of aircraft in India.

"We are increasing the Airbus footprint beyond Europe and going worldwide. This is a win-win situation for both us and our customers and partners in various parts of the world," he said.