Hangar Time: New MRO Facilities

Boeing is eyeing the expansion of its GoldCare aftermarket services offering in Europe after announcing plans to build a new maintenance facility at London Gatwick Airport in a multimillion-pound investment. The site, subject to approval from local authorities, would provide support for European airline customers of the GoldCare program. If approved, construction will begin later this year with a projected opening date of 2018.

GE Aviation and Lufthansa Technik (LHT) confirmed Poland as the location for their new joint venture to service both the GEnx-2B and the GE9X for the Lufthansa airline group and other airline and cargo operators from September 2018. As part of their combined investment of €250 million ($267 million), the 350,000-m2 (3,760,000-ft.2) engine overhaul facility will be located in the Legnica Special Economic Zone (LSEZ) in Sroda Slaska in southwestern Poland and will operate under the name XEOS.

Ryanair plans to open its first Spanish C-check maintenance hangar at Seville Airport from early 2018 as part of an €8 million ($8.5 million) investment. The Irish low-cost carrier made the announcement in April 2017 and revealed construction of the hangar will create up to 150 skilled roles, including engineers, aircraft mechanics and support staff. Once operational, the one-bay facility will be able to accommodate heavy MRO checks on Ryanair’s Boeing 737-800 fleet.

Australian flag carrier Qantas invested $30m in a 50%-expansion of its maintenance facility at Los Angeles International Airport. The 5.7-hectare site upgrades a 1950s hangar into a cavernous building capable of servicing four aircraft at the same time, including the A380.

AFI KLM E&M and Safran Aircraft Engines’ component repair facility joint venture announced in summer 2016 will operate as Airfoils Advanced Solutions in northern France. The 15,000 square meter facility will repair high-pressure compressor blades and variable stator vanes on multiple engine types. These include CFM International’s CFM56 family engine for the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, the GE90 option on the Boeing 777 and the Engine Alliance GP7200 powering the Airbus A380 superjumbo.

Romania’s Aerostar is in negotiations with the airport authorities of Iași to construct a new four-bay maintenance facility to accommodate Airbus A320 family and a mix of Boeing 737 Classic and New Generation aircraft. If approved, the overhaul facility is scheduled for a summer 2019 opening and grows Aerostar’s reach across Romania.

AAR opened a new parts facility at Dubai World Central Airport in February 2017. The aftermarket provider said the warehouse aims to close the gap between essential aircraft components and the increasing number of carriers operating in the Middle East. Component suppliers for the facility include Eaton, Unison, UTAS, Meggitt and Lord.