NEW DELHI: In major expansion plans for India, French aerospace and defense major Thales Group is looking at setting up its own maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) center in India.
The avionics major has so far been developing flight management system (FMS) software at its engineering competent center in Bengaluru where it has about 260 engineers.
It is going to build the hardware on which this software is embedded, in India too and will double the number of engineers on roll in a year, Yannick AssouadThales’ EVP (avionics), told TOI Tuesday.
“India has a major thrust on drones. We are also looking at developing avionics for drones in the country too. This visit to India has been an eye-opener for me,” Assouad, a French national, said. For the proposed MRO, Thales is open to both a JV with a suitable partner or fully owned one. With these plans, the company is planning an investment in millions of dollars in the country.
“We also provide onboard WiFi and are going to do that around the world. That will be possible by tying up with local partners. In India we are looking at doing so with a local satellite provider for the same,” she said.
“India has a very good set of highly skilled engineers and in good numbers. It is not easy to get good engineers as they are always sought after by all companies. We need engineers and India is the place for us to be in.”
Thales’ FMS allows pilots to enter the route to be taken in the flight computer. This allows the plane to fly at the right speed, altitude and direction even when it is on auto pilot mode.
With major Airbus customers in India that use this system like IndiGo and AirAsia IndiaThales is looking at setting up an MRO here to be able to maintain and repair the systems in the country.
“On MRO: We look forward to exploring localization and repair options in avionics and IFE for airlines flying in India and internationally. The MRO could be through a JV or it could be fully owned subsidiary of Thales. However, we are still at an early stage with regard to this,” she said.
“The avionics we plan to develop for drones in India will allow users to identify, track and geo-cage drones”, allowing for their safer use.
Indian plans to use drones for a multitude purposes raging from e-commerce deliveries to drone taxis in coming years.
The avionics major has so far been developing flight management system (FMS) software at its engineering competent center in Bengaluru where it has about 260 engineers.
It is going to build the hardware on which this software is embedded, in India too and will double the number of engineers on roll in a year, Yannick AssouadThales’ EVP (avionics), told TOI Tuesday.
“India has a major thrust on drones. We are also looking at developing avionics for drones in the country too. This visit to India has been an eye-opener for me,” Assouad, a French national, said. For the proposed MRO, Thales is open to both a JV with a suitable partner or fully owned one. With these plans, the company is planning an investment in millions of dollars in the country.
“We also provide onboard WiFi and are going to do that around the world. That will be possible by tying up with local partners. In India we are looking at doing so with a local satellite provider for the same,” she said.
“India has a very good set of highly skilled engineers and in good numbers. It is not easy to get good engineers as they are always sought after by all companies. We need engineers and India is the place for us to be in.”
Thales’ FMS allows pilots to enter the route to be taken in the flight computer. This allows the plane to fly at the right speed, altitude and direction even when it is on auto pilot mode.
With major Airbus customers in India that use this system like IndiGo and AirAsia IndiaThales is looking at setting up an MRO here to be able to maintain and repair the systems in the country.
“On MRO: We look forward to exploring localization and repair options in avionics and IFE for airlines flying in India and internationally. The MRO could be through a JV or it could be fully owned subsidiary of Thales. However, we are still at an early stage with regard to this,” she said.
“The avionics we plan to develop for drones in India will allow users to identify, track and geo-cage drones”, allowing for their safer use.
Indian plans to use drones for a multitude purposes raging from e-commerce deliveries to drone taxis in coming years.
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