Air India’s (AI) under-construction aircraft maintenance base is set to open by the end of this month. The AI-Boeing joint venture project is coming up near the new international terminal building of Thiruvananthapuram airport.

A trial run was successfully carried out last week. The formal commissioning of the base will be done either during the third or fourth week of September by Union Minister for Civil Aviation Vayalar Ravi. Although the facility would be declared open at the function, it would be operational only after some time.

The base, constructed at a cost of over Rs.70 crore, has come up in 6.07 hectares provided free by the State to AI. Construction of the 500-metre parallel taxiway, to bring the aircraft that land on the runway to the base, was done by the AirportsAuthority of India at a cost of Rs.9 crore. The base will have several unique features, including use of solar energy.

The airline hopes that more airlines would arrive here once the base is commissioned. The maintenance of other Boeing aircraft will be done at the base in the later stages.

The base has been set up by Air-India Engineering Services, a fully owned subsidiary of AI. The plan is to develop the base for ‘Maintenance Repair Overhaul’ facility.