Independent MRO provider 2Excel Engineering has obtained UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Part 147 approval for licensed engineer training.

The new certification enables the company’s training school to conduct B1 and B2 type rating courses on Boeing 727 and King Air 200 aircraft types at its headquarters in Lasham, Hampshire, located around 50 mi. southwest of London. 

“With this new accreditation, 2Excel Engineering can now train its own licensed engineers to assure the Company's long-term resilience and continued success,” it said in a statement released on Monday (July 24). 

Matt Caswell, 2Excel Engineering’s chief executive, says the new approval gives the company the ability to train its own licensed engineers which will aid its long-term resilience. 

Caswell adds: “This achievement not only serves as a powerful tool for recruiting new talent but will also play a pivotal role in retaining existing employees by providing them with valuable career development opportunities and expanding their skill sets.”

2Excel Engineering says the new certification is closely linked to its existing apprenticeship scheme, which takes on trainees to develop them as aerospace engineers. Long-term, it plans to venture beyond in-house training by offering external training to the wider industry.  

Following a strategy of MRO diversification at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic three years ago, the company has since moved into adding new approvals. Over the past 18 months, 2Excel Engineering has added several approvals certified by the UK’s aviation regulatory body. These include the addition of aircraft component maintenance services in April 2022, followed by base maintenance services for CFM Leap-powered Airbus A320neo aircraft in August 2022.

Following those approvals, 2Excel added to its existing heavy maintenance offerings which included 727, 737 and 757 aircraft, as well as the A320ceo and Beechcraft King Air and Piper PA-31 aircraft.

Its Lasham site has capacity for 60 deep maintenance checks annually while operating four narrowbody aircraft hangars. In addition, it has two hangars for commuter category aircraft along with back-shops, an on-site non-destructive testing team and parking with volume for up to 30 aircraft.