14 February 2023: International Aerospace Coatings Group (IAC), a market-leading aviation services provider, has been selected by Teruel Airport Consortium to develop and operate a new wide body hangar facility at Teruel Airport in Central Spain under a 25-year concession agreement.
IAC has committed to developing this strategically located infrastructure, which will serve the company’s new and existing aviation customers and provide Teruel airport with its inaugural painting facility, creating an expected 80 new, highly skilled jobs for the region.
The Teruel project represents IAC’s first growth initiative since Tiger Infrastructure Partners (Tiger Infrastructure), a leading middle market growth infrastructure investor, acquired IAC in December 2022. At that time, Tiger Infrastructure’s CEO, Emil W. Henry, Jr., signalled the firm’s intention to support IAC management in the growth of the business and, in particular, the expansion of its physical footprint and asset portfolio to support new customer contracts. The Teruel facility will extend IAC’s current portfolio to 18 hangars located at eight airports and two customer sites throughout the United States and Europe. IAC employs more than 1,000 people globally.
IAC’s core business involves aircraft painting, aviation technical services, aircraft interior refurbishment and aircraft graphic solutions. IAC also provides engineering services and asset management solutions to help customers ensure regulatory compliance through its Eirtech Aviation Services (EAS) division. Its global customer base includes aircraft manufacturers, commercial airlines, aircraft leasing companies, air cargo carriers and governments.
Planning For Strong Demand
Martin O’Connell, CEO of IAC said: “We are planning now for an anticipated shortfall in capacity within the global aircraft maintenance sector over the next three to four years. Demand for our services following the Covid-19 pandemic has soared, and we are strategically selecting locations that will support our growth as the needs of our customers grow. Wide body hangars, such as our new painting facility at Teruel, are particularly important to the business, as there are a limited number of dedicated aircraft paint hangars capable of handling wide body aircraft in Europe”.
“At IAC we are continually identifying new opportunities for the business in the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia and we have ambitious plans that are exciting for the company, our employees, customers, and the wider markets in which we operate.”
New Facility
Teruel Airport opened in 2013 and serves as an industrial-aeronautical hub with the largest maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) platform in Europe with aircraft storage capacity for up to 250 aircraft. Teruel is a small, growing province in Spain and its dry climate makes it particularly suitable for long-term storage as well as paint operations.
The airport is the vision of the President of the region, Javier Lambán, and is bordered by Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Zaragoza and Bilbao, representing 60% of Spanish GDP and more than 20 million people in the 400 km surroundings.
The president of the Teruel Airport Consortium, José Luis Soro, said: “"The arrival of IAC at Teruel Airport completes the aircraft maintenance cycle, making the airport more competitive compared to other facilities in Europe and supports our long-term growth plans”.