FAI breaks ground on new Hangar 8 and shares progress on Construction Cam

FAI Asset Management GmbH, a Member of the Germany-headquartered FAI Aviation Group, has begun construction of a third hangar at Albrecht Dürer Airport in Nuremberg. Ground was broken for the latest FAI building – to be known as Hangar 8 – on 15 August following completion of road network infrastructure changes by the airport company. The €6m project will result in a building with a 4,800m² footprint, of which 4,500m² will comprise hangar space and 300 m² will be dedicated to office areas. Designed in house by FAI CEO Siegfried Axtmann, the additional building will mirror the existing FAI properties in style, and like the rest of the facility will also be carbon neutral.

The project’s progress can be watched via Construction Cam (www.fai.ag/hangar8), which has been erected on FAI’s main building. “It’s a major construction and we thought this would be a great way to showcase its development to our colleagues around the world,” explains Axtmann, about the digital link.

On completion, which is expected in March 2017, the complete FAI facility will total some 14,000m². The additional space will be utilised for line maintenance work across a range of aircraft, including FAI’s fleet of exclusively Bombardier aircraft. FAI Technik, the in-house maintenance division of FAI Group is specialised in base and line maintenance of Bombardier aircraft. It has completed several heavy maintenance 8C and 12C checks on the Bombardier Global Express model, which included cabin refurbishments and modifications. The team has also worked through a number of 96/192 month-inspections on Challenger 604s, as well as 12 year/12,000 hours-inspections across the Learjet-family.

To support the maintenance expansion FAI Technik plans to further bolster its 60 strong team with the recruitment of ten more engineers to fulfill the extra requirements. “We have a great team of technical experts who maintain our own fleet, as well as the privately owned aircraft we manage. The new hangar gives us the opportunity to strengthen the numbers and add even more skills to our diverse range of expertise,” said Axtmann.

Axtmann anticipates that the hangar will also be used for aircraft storage. “The increased capacity will support FAI’s expansion into the aircraft storage market. The number of aircraft being put up for sale in Europe is increasing and there is a growing demand for air conditioned hangar space in which to keep them in mint condition before a sale take place.”

FAI’s current site already incorporates administration offices, a fully serviced FBO, FAI’s 24/7 Air Ambulance Operation Center, component shops and training facilities for FAI staff. The existing Hangars 6 and 7 will continue to serve base maintenance needs.