India’s state-owned airline, Air India, owned by the Tata Group, is reportedly in talks to acquire Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL), a government-owned company.
Air India plans to partner with Lufthansa Technik, the German aircraft maintenance company, and the engineering units of Air France and KLM for the acquisition.
Singapore Airlines, which holds a 25.1% stake in Air India, will also join the consortium through its engineering arm, SIA Engineering Company Limited.
AIESL is the largest Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) company in India, and its ownership is crucial for Air India, which relies heavily on its services to meet its fleet requirements.
AIESL posted a profit of Rs 840 crore in FY 2022 and has six hangar facilities across the country, with a skilled workforce that handled 450 aircraft in the same period.
The government is expected to release an Expression of Interest (EOI) document soon to invite bids for AIESL.
According to sources, the CEO of Lufthansa has held several meetings with top executives of Air India and Tata Sons to discuss the acquisition.
