Gallery: Inside Magnetic’s New Tallinn Hangar

Magnetic MRO opened its fifth hangar at Tallinn Airport in January. Aviation Week recently toured the facility to get a firsthand look at how it is boosting the company’s capabilities and incorporating new technologies.

The new H11 facility is designed for Airbus A320-family and Boeing 737-family base maintenance, with three narrowbody bays. It is deliberately designed differently from Magnetic's older main hangar at Tallinn Airport.

Self-driving vehicles move between Magnetic’s hangars at Tallinn Airport, transporting people, tools and equipment. Magnetic began testing the autonomous shuttles, made by Auve Tech, in 2023. Magnetic says the shuttles currently cover around 1,000 km (621 mi.) every week.

Each bay in H11 is segregated, allowing Magnetic to open only the relevant door when moving aircraft or materials. The hangar is equipped with artificial intelligence-enabled climate management.

Magnetic expects all three bays to be heavily used during the peak heavy maintenance period. The hangar is equipped with tooling, stock and support areas.

Magnetic’s major customers include Austrian Airlines and SAS. According to Magnetic, network carriers can be conservative in supplier selection and value long-term relationships.

Magnetic is automating consumable management at the new facility. The vending and carousel systems for consumables and personal protective equipment allow technicians to retrieve items themselves while generating usage trend data.

Magnetic considered the working environment, movement of materials, workshops, heating and functionality for employees during the design and construction of the new hangar.

An Airbus A320neo was undergoing repainting in Magnetic’s paint shop during Aviation Week’s visit.

Magnetic’s older Hangar 04 is an open-plan facility, whereas the new H11 has segregated bays. The company has accumulated a comprehensive network of support functions around the maintenance operation.

Every hangar has painting booths for repairs, while full aircraft painting is concentrated in one dedicated facility.

The engine shop was operating at full capacity, with virtually every bay occupied with CFM International CFM56 engines.

Magnetic says it has solved shortages in high-pressure turbine blades for CFM56s, with no significant material-shortage-related delays in the last two years.

This balancing machine can perform both vertical balancing of individual discs and subsequent horizontal balancing once a module is assembled.

Magnetic Engines has brought horizontal and vertical balancing for engine disks and rotors in-house, eliminating the need to outsource the work and reducing turnaround times.

Magnetic’s tooling facility is highly organized around radio frequency identification. Tools are tagged, their removal is recorded and they are assigned to a particular maintenance check.

Magnetic’s wheels and brakes line has been reorganized into a more structured, station-by-station flow. Wheels are cleaned and then move through successive workstations.

Escape slides are inflated and tested to ensure they function correctly before being repacked and returned to service using applicable OEM documentation.