The new CFM Training Centre is equipped to train 500 aeronautical engineers annually and will motivate other aerospace majors across the world to gravitate towards India to exploit the immense potential the country has to offer in aerospace engineering

CFM International (CFMI), a 50:50 joint venture between France’s Snecma (Safran Group) and the General Electric Company of the United States is the world’s leading manufacturer of commercial aircraft engines. Fulfilling its commitments to its clientele in 2007, the company on March 2, 2010, inaugurated a training centre at the Aerospace Park of the Special Economic Zone being developed by the GMR group near the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Hyderabad. Including initial start-up costs, investment in the centre is slated to be to the tune of $15 million (Rs 68 crore) in the next decade.

Preceded by three similar facilities established earlier in the US, France and China, the facility in Hyderabad is equipped to train 500 aeronautical engineers annually. It will provide hands-on training specifically for the maintenance of CFM56-5B and CFM56-7B engines that power the Airbus 320 and the Boeing 737 Next Generation airliners. As training aids, the centre has two dedicated engines, the CFM56-5B and the CFM56-7B and other tools necessary for both theoretical and hands-on training. The centre will also offer courses in general familiarisation, line maintenance, borescope inspection, and trend monitoring.

There are about 320 CFM56 engines flying in the country, and more than 360 are on order. In the region, there are more then 500 CFM56 engines in service and an impressive list of clientele including Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express, Jet Airways, GoAir, SpiceJet, as well as airlines in Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. As per Eric Bachelet, President and CEO, CFM International, the company is committed to providing a free training package to the customer along with the new engines supplied. The cost of such training in India will be significantly lower than that in France and the US.

Confined to the civil aviation sector so far, CFM has supplied the CFM56-7B engines to power the Boeing Business Jets acquired for the VVIP Squadron of the Indian Air Force (IAF). In 2012, the company will also supply engines to power the fleet of P8I Maritime Surveillance Aircraft purchased by the Indian government for its navy. With these contracts, CFM has successfully forayed into the Indian defence sector.

“The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad is the logical location for this new facility. The training offered here will be unparalleled in the region,” said Eric Bachelet, President and CEO, CFM International. According to Paul Andre Chevrin, Vice President (India), CFM International, plans for the future include the establishment of a logistics and engine spare parts services facility at the Aerospace Park SEZ to cater to customers in South Asia. However, he went on to clarify that the plan is yet to be finalised and no clear timeframe could be declared at this stage.