GMR Aero Technic inducts first aircraft at inflatable hangar

“GAT has taken a giant leap in terms of aircraft maintenance and service in Asia, by adopting innovative technology in the form of an inflatable hangar as compared to conventional hangar structure,” Ashok Gopinath said.

Hyderabad: GMR Aero Technic (GAT), a wholly owned subsidiary of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), inducts the first aircraft at its new inflatable hangar, recently installed at the company’s facility in Hyderabad. The hangar was manufactured by Buildair Inflatable Structural Solutions of Spain. The one bay narrow-body inflatable hangar is designed to accommodate one Boeing B737 or Airbus A320 series aircraft, adding an additional bay to GAT’s already existing seven bay capacity. With this new line, GAT would be able handle additionally 15 to 20 smaller base maintenance checks or four to five end of lease checks per year.

GAT is the only Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) company in India and Asia region to have installed such a hangar. The inflatable hangar may be used for multiple purposes including scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, engine or landing gear replacement. “GAT has taken a giant leap in terms of aircraft maintenance and service in Asia, by adopting innovative technology in the form of an inflatable hangar as compared to conventional hangar structure,” Ashok Gopinath, CEO, GMR Aero Technic told Telangana Today.

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Several benefits

Hangars are used to protect the aircraft from weather and direct sunlight during MRO processes. However, it takes a considerable amount of time to source an available hangar to undertake the unscheduled repairs. On the contrary, an inflatable hangar is cost-effective, reduces downtime to a minimum and saves time and money. Inflatable hangar is a permanent solution to MROs, with a lifespan of about 15 years and comparable to conventional hangars in all aspects. Such a hangar is formed by low pressure tubes aligned parallel to each other forming a ‘rib-cage’ structure. This woven polyester base cloth with PVC coating hangar is both fire-retardant and water-proof.

“Critical parameters of the hangar are centrally monitored by GAT Security centre and manufacturer’s control centre in Madrid (Spain) on 24X7 basis through an app-based automatic control system. The hangar also comes with a fire detection and fire extinguishing system, which makes it safety compliant and protects valuable assets,” Gopinath added. The hangar is designed to withstand wind speeds up to 158.4 km per hour and can handle temperatures from -30 degree Celsius to +70 degree Celsius, which makes it an ideal alternative to conventional solid metal hangar, which is both expensive and time consuming to build.

Construction of a conventional hangar takes more than 18 months, while the inflatable hangar can be constructed in 3-4 months. The inflatable hangar is also portable. It takes just 1-2 months for disassembly and assembly at other locations.

Surge in adoption

“Such hangars are used as a proper alternative to conventional hangars by MROs in Europe and GCC for many years now. In the long-term, we are looking at adding a couple of more hangars aimed at upgrading to include wide body aircraft capability including painting, certain critical component workshops and military MRO business,” Gopinath added. Catering to various international customers, GMR Aero Technic currently has operational stations across India and Kathmandu in Nepal for Line Maintenance. It is also planning to add four more Line Stations across the country in this fiscal. GMR Aero Technic has recently signed an MoU with Airbus and will be collaborating with it in the areas of MRO, warehousing, cargo and airports.

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