(a) whether millions of dollars have been spent by the Government on the repairs of Boeing 747-400 Aircraft carried out by a Taiwanese agency when such repairs could have been done indigenously;
(b) if so, the reasons for opting for a Taiwanese agency for the repairs; and
(c) the total expenditure incurred by the Government on the repairs of these Aircrafts annualy during the last three years?
THE MINISTER OF CIVIL AVIATION ( SHRI SYED SHAHNAWAZ HUSSAIN )
(a) and (b) : No routine repair has been carried out by the Taiwanese agency on Air India`s B747-400 aircraft. However, one time mandatory structural modification of 3 B747-400 was carried out by a Taiwanese agency which was selected as per laid down procedures. This decision was taken considering the cost benefits of sending 2 A300-B4 aircraft abroad for `C` checks, vis-a-vis sending 4 B747-400 aircraft for struct modification to external agency and turn around time offered by external agency. Boeing supplies the modification kit free of charge and also reimburse the airlines certain portion of expenses incurred in this modification.
(C) : The total expenditure incurred on routine maintenance and repairs of B74-400 aircraft during the last three years is as under :-
Year Material Repairs
Consumption (Outside Parties)
1998-1999 43.93 13.63 1999-2000 53.91 16.15 2000-2001 129.10 23.93 Total 226.94 53.71