STS Aviation Hangar and Expected Movements

[Aviador]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

Wow, they're not messing about building this one. Are they wanting it open for the summer. :shok:

 

[Ray Finkle]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

Yeah they've really cracked on with it. It's scheduled to be operational by Oct/Nov.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

Looks to be a good deal all round.

There's been rumours flying about for a while that those old Flybe hangers are in line to be demolished, I guess this news could well be the final nail in their coffin (not that I'll be sad to see them go).

Flybe Maintenance Agreement

Award-winning independent aircraft maintenance provider, Monarch Aircraft Engineering Limited (MAEL) today announces that it has signed a contract with and will enter into an agreement with Flybe UK, Europe’s largest regional airline, for the provision of Bombardier Q400 and Embraer 175/195 line maintenance in the UK at Birmingham, Manchester, London Gatwick and East Midlands airports.

Commencing on Wednesday May 1st 2013, the agreement will also include the provision of Bombardier Q400 and Embraer 175/195 light hangar maintenance and storage and logistics at Birmingham and Manchester.

Commenting on the agreement, Mick Adams, Managing Director of MAEL said:

“In recent years MAEL has been working extremely hard to successfully develop its capabilities and to increase its share of business from third-party customers. A partnership with Flybe UK will enable us to add Bombardier and Embraer aircraft types to our already extensive Airbus and Boeing capability in the UK. MAEL is well established at the four locations and, with our new 110,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art hangar facility at Birmingham on track to open in November 2013, we believe that overall we can offer a unique and cost-effective maintenance solution to Flybe UK.”

Andrew Strong, Managing Director of Flybe UK said:

“Following detailed discussions between Flybe UK and MAEL, I am pleased that our teams have been able to identify the synergies created by an integrated approach to our Engineering activities at these airports. We believe that working with MAEL will give Flybe UK the best quality maintenance with the most cost effective delivery. We are proud of our operational performance and believe that this new approach will strengthen our engineering support in these key bases.”


30/04/2013

http://www.monarchaircraftengineering.c ... etails/111

 

[Ray Finkle]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

Birmingham Hangar Update

Monarch Aircraft Engineering (MAEL), the award-winning independent aircraft maintenance provider and a division of The Monarch Group, has reached another key milestone in the construction of their new 110,000 sq. ft state-of-the-art maintenance facility, at Birmingham Airport in the UK.


Since the ground-breaking ceremony in January, work has continued at a pace on the hangar build, with the largest and heaviest component of the entire build - the ‘valley truss’ beam - measuring 4.2m deep and spanning 66m and weighing approximately 80 tonnes, now being installed.


Commenting on this milestone, Mick Adams, Managing Director of MAEL, said: “The development of our new hangar at Birmingham Airport continues to define a new airport landscape and we are extremely pleased that the project remains on target. We are now working hard on the detailed requirements for all aspects of the operation to ensure that we are ready for the first aircraft to enter our facility in November.”


Will Heynes, Development Director of Birmingham Airport, said: “This development is a significant addition to our infrastructure. It enhances our offer of world class facilities and supports our ability to offer more skilled jobs in the region. The programme is progressing well thanks to the great efforts of all parties involved and we look forward to welcoming the first jet into the new hangar this November.”


07/05/2013

http://www.monarchaircraftengineering.c ... etails/112

 

[Ray Finkle]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

Update from today, coming along nicely :s_yes

 

[User0001]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

Coming along nicely, and you will get some nice movements when it is open too.

G-TUIB B787 currently in the MAN Monarch hangar, with SP-LRA LOT B787 currently en-route to join her in the hangar as we speak.

An RAF 'Voyager' (A330-200) has just been pulled out of the hangar, all movements that will no doubt visit BHX in the future as BHX's hangar is larger and needs to be justified.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

Indeed. I'm looking forwards to a bit of variety, especially when I get chance to get the camera out. Whilst they are bread and butter services for the airport and I do appreciate them, there are only so many pictures of endless Ryanair's, Flybe's and Monarch's one can take

 

[User0001]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

Well its only recently the variety has 'kicked off'.

Over the years, its mainly been Monarch themselves in the hangar, with the occasional visitor such as DHL B767's and RAF Voyagers.

Its only now the BHX hangar goes up that the variety has come about, with the likes of LOT sending their B787.

I suppose MAN will have to make do with Air Livery, now THERES a hangar with variety, a Lufthansa A340-600 in there now.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

Yeah I enjoy reading your updates about the comings and goings of Air Livery, there are definitely one or two worth a trip down to see.

With the extra capacity I'm sure Monarch will be on the lookout to secure some new contracts so lets hope there is more to come in the near future.

 

[User0001]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

Well it will be interesting to see who they can get.

Right from the inception of the BHX hangar, it seems Monarch were rather specific in stating that the hangar would be 'B77W size'. Now, knowing Joe public wouldn't know what a B77W was even if it ran over their foot, I personally think stating B77W was quite specific and could be indicative of a contract they are chasing?

Aeroflot used to use Thomas Cook engineering, and have recently got a B77W or 2, so, I wonder if MAEL are after a contract to maintain them?
I cant think who else in Europe with a B77W could use Monarch? Air France, Turkish, British Airways and Lufthansa (swiss airlines have ordered B77W's) all have large in house maintenance facilities.
Other airlines are unlikely to position aircraft from outside Europe to be fixed at BHX, so, Aeroflot is the only one that fts.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

It's an interesting theory, it certainly would be nice to see the Aeroflot 77W's come and go.

From the original press release.

have the capacity for Boeing 787 Dreamliner maintenance, with sufficient capacity for other wide body aircraft, such as Boeing 777, 747 and Airbus A350. The facility will be large enough to accommodate two Boeing 777-300ER aircraft or 10 narrow-body aircraft and will contain a number of component-repair and back shops.

Watch this space.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

Update from last weekend.

 

[Aviador]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

The speed that this has gone up is impressive. Was the apron and taxiway link already there or has that needed to be built as well?

 

[User0001]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

Nice picture Ray.

To keep you up to date of potential customers for the future at BHX, Arkefly B767-300, PH-OYI is currently in the Manchester hangar, so another one that could be shipped to BHX when its open.

I don't know how true it is, but, BHX could get all of Manchester's work in the future, as word on the street is that Air Livery are trying to buy the Manchester hangar off Monarch to expand their facilities. Air Livery are apparently interested in building an A380 sized bay for any future work, alongside the current B747/A340-600 capable bay they have.

Would make sense as even a 1 bay hangar would have sufficed at BHX for Monarchs current workload, but 2 bays is quite a large increase in capacity. Maybe it is true that Manchester's 1 bay is heading south?

 

[Ray Finkle]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

The speed that this has gone up is impressive. Was the apron and taxiway link already there or has that needed to be built as well?

It's positioned next to taxiway Lima which was the old 06/24 runway so only the apron needed constructing. It's going to be able to have two 773's parked side by side so will be quite a size.

Nice picture Ray.

To keep you up to date of potential customers for the future at BHX, Arkefly B767-300, PH-OYI is currently in the Manchester hangar, so another one that could be shipped to BHX when its open.

I don't know how true it is, but, BHX could get all of Manchester's work in the future, as word on the street is that Air Livery are trying to buy the Manchester hangar off Monarch to expand their facilities. Air Livery are apparently interested in building an A380 sized bay for any future work, alongside the current B747/A340-600 capable bay they have.

Would make sense as even a 1 bay hangar would have sufficed at BHX for Monarchs current workload, but 2 bays is quite a large increase in capacity. Maybe it is true that Manchester's 1 bay is heading south?

It would make sense, not sure how much they could sell the MAN hangar for but it would go some way towards the cost of the BHX one and as you say there is a lot of extra capacity now so unless they have a major new contract coming on line then something probably has to give.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

There's some nice pictures and regular updates on the MAEL Flickr account.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/monarch-ai ... gineering/

 

[Ray Finkle]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

After switching their maintenance to MAEL I noticed the Flybe logo has now been removed from the old hangar. There's been rumours for a while that they are both to be demolished and now Flybe have gone I can't see who else would want them.

 

[justplanecrazy]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

Could the old flybe hangar be used as a cargo hangar?

 

[Ray Finkle]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

One of the rumours is that BHX are looking to see more cargo throughput and the two hangars and the Elmdon multi-storey car park could make way for a new cargo facility, although with EMA just up the road I imagine options could be limited.

It's all total speculation though, it'll probably just remain untouched for the next ten years

 

[User0001]

Re: Monarch Aircraft Engineering.

Well, you never know what could happen.

The amount of money spent at BHX in recent years, I wouldn't put it past them. The landscape at the airport has literally transformed in front of our eyes in the past 10 years:

-New Pier
-New Eurojet hangar
-New control tower
-New radar system
-Runway extension
-New fire engines (didn't these cost something like £3m on their own)
-New Monarch hangar

Im assuming the next step money wise will be to introduce the new LED runway/taxiway lighting system? Had the chance to flightdeck LHR-MAN a few months ago and the new system at MAN is epic, could spot the runway from miles and miles out.

In terms of cargo, it could be a huge fight with EMA up the road, but, its really only DHL/Aerologic (part of DHL), Royal Mail contracts and UPS that are loyal to EMA and hard to coax out, the ad-hoc stuff that goes into EMA (the AN124 and IL76 for example) could be up for grabs if the price is right. However, the fees for BHX are substantially higher for freight than EMA, so, that's something that would have to be sorted. Freight is even more price sensitive than passengers!