Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL) and global aerospace company GDC Technics have announced plans to form a strategic alliance partnership.

The parties have signed a letter of intent (LoI) to pursue aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and modification opportunities in India.

The LoI is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.

The partnership will focus on delivering aircraft maintenance, modifications and engineering services for both the country’s flag carrier Air India and other commercial aircraft in the region.

The MRO and modification services will comply with the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) regulations.

AISEL CEO HR Jagannath said: “GDC’s significant engineering and certification experience under both EASA and FAA authorities allows for a great partnership with AISEL, further expanding our ability to service customers with maintenance and modification services in the region, with the quality of workmanship AISEL is known for.”

As part of the partnership, GDC will be responsible for engineering and certification services. The labour, equipment and facilities will be handled by AIESL.

A RAMS team from GDC Technics was recently sent to India for modification work at an AIESL facility.

The team will be offering services at all AIESL facilities across India, including at the new $100m facility in Nagpur.

GDC CEO Brad Foreman said: “This LoI is the start of a long-term partnership with AIESL to provide customers in the region a wide variety of services to support the expanding fleet of aircraft in the region.”