Taking a major leap forward in aircraft maintenance, national air-carrier Air India, has become the third airline in the Asian region to have acquired the capability of carrying out a 'C check' on its Boeing-777 aircraft.

"We have successfully carried out the 'C check' on two of our B-777 aircraft and work on the third one is expected to be completed within a month," National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) SBU-Head (Engineering), K M Unni, told media persons in Mumbai.

NACIL is the holding company of Air India and the erstwhile Indian Airlines.

Earlier, these aircraft were being sent overseas for such checks, which resulted in a huge cost, Unni said, adding that "by carrying out an in-house C check, we will be saving Rs 15-20 crore."

NACIL, at present, has 15 B-777 aircraft in its fleet and would add seven more this year, he said.

There are three types of major mandatory checks, which are to be performed on B-777 (dry leased). These include 'Check 4A', which is to be performed every 2,000 hours or 300 calendar days, 'Check C', which is to be performed every 7,500 hours or 750 calendar days and 'Check D', which is to be performed every 30,000 hours or 3,000 calendar days.

"By undertaking the `C check' in-house, we will not have to fly the aircraft to foreign MROs (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) for the 'C check' and hence there will be a substantial saving on fuel and other costs," Unni said.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had recently granted approval to Air India for carrying out an in-house 'C check'.

"With aviation MROs in huge demand and many airlines setting up maintenance facilities, we hope to garner a major share of the MRO business over a period of time," Unni said.

The 'C check' apart, the national air-carrier has also acquired the capability of replacing all landing gears on a B 777-200 ER aircraft, he said, adding that "we recently carried out such a replacement on a dry leased aircraft."

Following the successful `C check' on its B-777 aircraft, Air India is also planning to apply for a Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification.