Air Works India to launch India's first 3rd party commercial maintenance, repair and overhaul [MRO] by September 08

Announces the appointment of Fredrik Groth as the Chief Executive Officer

Farnborough, United Kingdom | New Delhi, India, July 15, 2008 : In its endeavour to build a strong platform for the aviation infrastructure in India, Air Works India - India's leading provider of Aviation Services since 1951, today announced its plans to launch a commercial maintenance, repair and overhaul [MRO] facility in Hosur, near Bangalore.

With 5 state of the art and fully equipped hangars, the MRO will offer services like airframe maintenance, paint shop, passenger to freighter conversion, cabin modifications, avionic upgrades, aircraft component repairs and spares. The MRO would support a wide variety of commercial aircraft certified to DGCA, FAA, and EASA standards.

At present, Air Works MRO at Hosur has an 8000 ft X 150 ft runway. The company plans to start operations by September 2008 with one existing hangar and will soon build two more hangers by year end, and another two more by end of 2009. For its MRO business, Air Works India has also entered in a tie up with Star Aviation to provide stocking and resale of components as well as overhaul of engines used in their leasing program. Going forward, Air Works India plans to invest an upward of $ 40 million for setting up the paint shop, interior completions, engine MRO to support the Commercial MRO initiative.

The company on the occasion also announced the appointment of Fredrik Groth as the Chief Executive Officer. A true international executive with personal as well as global work experience, Fredrik Groth brings strong technical, business development, as well as sales and marketing skills from the MRO and engine business. Prior to joining Air Works India, Fredrik Groth was working as an Executive Vice President - Strategy for Swiftair - a privately owned Spanish airline with PAX / CARGO services in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
"Fredrik brings a deep understanding of airline customers and their market realities. It's time Air Works drew on his range of talents to head our business in India." Suresh Soni, Acting Chief Executive Office - Air Works India and Partner, Global Technology Investment said while announcing the appointment. "With him at the helm, we expect Air Works team to reach new levels of success."

Echoing the sentiment, Ravi Menon - Executive vice president and founder of Air Works said, "This is a complex and challenging business and we are pleased to have Fredrik at the helm. We expect significant growth in this area and Fredrik's experience in both commercial and MRO programs provides him the background and insights to be successful."