New tech of inflatable hangars poised to take off in Indian aircraft maintenance industry

In February, just before the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, India’s infrastructure major GMR Group announced setting up of Asia’s first inflatable hangar at its Hyderabad airport, bringing a new dimension to aircraft and engine maintenance and repair in the country

In February, just before the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, India’s infrastructure major GMR Group announced setting up of Asia’s first inflatable hangar at its Hyderabad airport, bringing a new dimension to aircraft and engine maintenance and repair in the country.

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The introduction of this cost-effective technology, which is in use by some aviation companies in Europe and Middle East Gulf, assumes importance given that India is set to expand both its aircraft fleet and aviation infrastructure with hundreds of airports over the next few years. Some of which will require aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) as well.

The government has, over the past four years, made various announcements to construct or revive around 150 airports, including some airstrips in the country. Also, amid the government’s efforts to make the country an MRO hub, new ventures have also been reportedly announced by multiple players including Boeing, Airbus, Hindustan Aeronautics and Pratt & Whitney for setting up repair facilities in India.

According to aviation industry estimates, hangars, which are used to protect the aircraft from bad weather and direct sunlight during MRO processes, are an important part of India’s USD 1.7 billion MRO business. However, it takes a considerable amount of time to source an available hangar to undertake unscheduled repairs.

On the contrary, an inflatable hangar is cost-effective, reduces downtime and cost as compared to building a conventional hangar, while at the same time catering to all the functionality, safety features and structural stability of the conventional hangar.

Inflatable hangar is formed by low pressure tubes aligned parallel to each other forming a “rib-cage” structure. A permanent structure, just like any other conventional one, inflatable hangars are for use in all-weather structures made from PVC fabric having a life span of over 15 years.

These hangars, which vary in size, can be used as a one-to-one alternative for conventional hangars, explains Ashok Gopinath, chief executive officer (CEO) GMR Aero Technic that brought the inflatable hangar technology to the country.

“It is a cost-effective option which can shorten the time of construction. As a part of airport infrastructure, it can be used to provide line, ad-hoc and base maintenance checks on the aircraft,” he said.

The inflatable hangar is designed to withstand wind speeds up to 158.4 kilometres per hour (kmph) and can handle temperatures from -30 degrees Celsius to +70 degrees Celsius, thereby creating an alternative for conventional solid metal hangars that are both expensive and time consuming to build.

A conventional single-aisle aircraft hangar, at present, requires an investment of around ₹50 crore and takes over 18 months to construct. An inflatable hangar, on the other hand, can be installed in about three to four months at less than one-fourth the cost, around ₹12 crore, which includes lighting, fire-fighting, ventilation, doors etc.

GMR Group’s one-bay narrow-body inflatable hangar is designed to accommodate one Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 series aircraft.

At present, the country has 19 conventional hangars belonging to national carrier Air India’s subsidiary Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL), GMR Aero Technic and Air Works India spread across different states. Around 3,344sqmt area is required to accommodate one narrow-body aircraft in a hangar around 7,000sqmt for a wide-body aircraft.

As per industry experts, of the total MRO cost of an air operator fleet, engine maintenance cost accounts for 45%, component maintenance 25%, airframe and other costs account for 35%.

According to aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri, India currently has around 700 commercial aircraft and will need 1,750-2,100 aircraft in the next 20 years. However, according to Boeing’s latest market outlook, India will need more than 2,200 new jets valued at nearly $320 billion over the next 20 years.

“There is a tremendous scope for such hangars as many new airports will come up in India. Moreover, it is an ideal solution for operators and MROs for the regional connectivity scheme,” says Pulak Sen, founder and secretary general, MRO Association of India. “It is a useful technology in an MRO operation that can be used to park an aircraft for routine maintenance.”

As building a conventional hangar takes around 18 months and allotting hangar space by an airport operator is a time consuming exercise, it is better to have an inflatable hangar installed at a fractional cost and time, Sen said.

The cost of these hangars vary depending on the size. There are smaller ones, which can accommodate only one helicopter or a small aircraft to the largest one which can accommodate up to three Boeing 777s.

“With awareness of such an option in India, these hangars can be deployed in bigger numbers going forward. However, only time will tell how the Indian market accepts this new technology,” said Sen.

Echoing similar views, Gopinath said, “In the future, it (higher adoption of the technology by MRO operators in the country) depends on the demand and feasibility. If authorities are seeking for more permanent structures, they may opt for conventional hangars.”

However, few upcoming airports are likely to consider inflatable hangars to make available immediate hangarage to their airline customers for the aircraft on ground, Gopinath said.

“These hangars may be deployed at off-line or remote stations for smaller checks and quick turn-around of aircraft. They can also be in addition to normal hangars to take care of additional work loads, which an MRO may get,” said HR Jagannath, former CEO of AIESL.

“But the main issue with inflatable hangar is the location where they are to be deployed. It should have access to the airport runway so that aircraft can come into the hangar. Mostly such hangars are deployed at accident sites, where extensive repairs to the aircraft can be carried out,” he added.

European aviation major Airbus has been using portable inflatable hangers for many years to perform aircraft repairs at difficult or remote locations as a temporary measure and finds their transportability to be useful.

“With the ongoing major growth of aviation in India, it is critical that airlines have access to world-class maintenance facilities within the borders,” Airbus said in a statement to HT.