• Crawley Borough Council approves Boeing plan to build hangar at Gatwick
• Multi-million pound development will support more than 100 jobs at the airport
• Facility will open in early 2019 to support Gatwick’s long and short haul fleets

Boeing’s proposed plan with Gatwick Airport to build a new aircraft hangar has been granted permission to go ahead by Crawley Borough Council, with full works scheduled to commence later this year.

The facility will be fully operational in early 2019 and will add on-site engineering and maintenance capability for operators of Boeing aircraft at Gatwick, including short haul 737 aircraft and Gatwick’s growing long haul fleet of 747, 777, and 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

Gatwick’s route network is growing fast, and the airport is in the Premier League of European Airports that serve more than 60 long-haul destinations. With new services on Boeing aircraft to Denver, Seattle, Austin, Chicago, and Singapore recently commenced or announced, this new hangar will play an important role in supporting Gatwick’s long-haul network as it continues to grow.

The new hangar facility will support the Gatwick airline community’s immediate operational needs which, in turn, will help the airport to continue its record growth in both short and long haul services. It will also support Boeing’s Global Fleet Care customers. Utilised by more than 60 airline customers around the world, Global Fleet Care is a flexible set of fleet engineering, materials and maintenance services tailored for airlines.

Gatwick’s Chief Commercial Officer, Guy Stephenson, said:

“Gatwick’s partnership with Boeing will deliver a boost to jobs on the airport as well as providing close service support to Gatwick’s growing long and short haul Boeing fleet. This will help ensure that Gatwick’s record growth can continue and our global network can continue to expand.

“The hangar facility will provide a new level of on-site engineering capability which supports our airlines here in the UK. Initiatives like this are ever more vital as we strive for continued operational efficiency as we respond to the demand from airlines and passengers for more services at Gatwick.”

The new multi-million pound hangar facility, which will be located in the North West zone of the airport, is expected to support more than 200 jobs at Boeing and its suppliers in the region surrounding the airport.