Virgin Blue to build maintenance hangar at Sydney Airport

[Rob R]

From Flightglobal

Virgin Blue will construct a maintenance hangar at Sydney Airport as part of a new engineering base to support its operations at its busiest airport.

The base, due to be completed late next year pending approval, will cost over A$40 million ($40.2 million) and will support up to 300 jobs, New South Wales Premiere Kristina Keneally says.

"Having a dedicated maintenance base here in Sydney, complementing those we already have in Brisbane and Melbourne, will create significant benefits to our business in terms of optimising scheduling and network operations and also generating potential revenue opportunities by offering use of the facility to partner airlines," says Virgin Blue's CEO John Borghetti.

The hangar will be for line and base maintenance, he adds. It can accommodate four narrow-body aircraft or two narrow-body aircraft and one wide-body aircraft.

Virgin Blue operates 95 flights a day through Sydney and 15 to 20 aircraft overnight at the airport every night, the carrier says.

The Virgin Blue Group currently operates 53 Boeing 737s, five 777-300ERs, and 16 Embraer E-190s, according to Flightglobal's ACAS database.

The carrier's six Embraer E-170 aircraft will leave the fleet this year while its first of four Airbus A330-200 aircraft will arrive next month.

The carrier yesterday announced an order for up to 18 ATR 72 aircraft. The aircraft will be operated in the Virgin livery by Western Australia's Skywest.

Sydney Airport has welcomed Virgin Blue's decision to build a maintenance hangar at the airport, as well as the airline group's first flight today between Sydney and Abu Dhabi.

"The new hangar and maintenance base will create jobs and the new service between Sydney and Abu Dhabi provides more choice for international visitors and Australian travellers alike," says the airport's CEO Russell Balding.

[Chris W]

Any ideas on where this will be located? I don't think there is any room at the Eastern Park or near the QF Jet Base.

[Brenden S]

Cost over $40 Million, now that is going to be a good hangar.

[Owen H]

So an airline is being allowed to build a new hanger and faclilty at one of the most space-constrained airports in the world which is desperately short of parking and terminal space.

Logical.

[Sarah C]

They are probably paying half of that to MacBank just for the land!

[Nigel C]

There is reference in the 2009 Master Plan (available to the public on the Sydney Airport website) to "three wide-bodied aircraft hangar bays along Ross Smith Avenue" in the NE sector. Given there's not a lot of room north of the 25 threshold, I can only imagine this means up near Execujet and where the horse corral is currently located. Anywhere south of here would likely run into OLS issues with Rwy 25

[D Chan]

would they get rid of the long term carpark, and use that space for the hangars?

[Will H]

Photo/map of MX hangar location as supplied by VB:



https://twitter.com/winglets747/stat...09290267926528

[Nigel C]

Which is all well and good, but there's a need to accommodate the corporate FBO's. Hopefully the cart's not put before the horse...

[Peter Agatsiotis]

Not to mention loss of good photography opportunities of corporate stuff, but still possibilities.