EasyJet opens its first maintenance hangar at Gatwick
Building commenced in November 2015 and has included the installation of a sub-station and gas plant, pulling power cables from one side of LGW to the other, fitting 8,700m2 of PVC membrane and laying 100 metres of drainage. 780 tonnes of concrete were used along with 280 tonnes of steel and 8,000 nuts, bolts and washers. To complete the build two sets of ‘Megadoor’ hangar doors were fitted to allow access to the two A319 and A320 bay facility. The hangar is complimented by a 550sqm external logistics and office building.
In addition to the hangar build itself, a tender was run to select a suitable partner to provide the maintenance services. EasyJet’s existing partner in Milan Malpensa and Berlin Schoenefeld, Lufthansa Technik, were selected and a ground breaking five year contract has been signed which sees Lufthansa Technik opening their first UK hangar based operation. The on site team will deliver two inputs every night, seven days a week and provide AOG hangar support as required.
EasyJet will also have increased oversight and management of all aircraft maintenance activity at London Gatwick through the recruitment of an onsite team which is headed up by Kevin Creed. Kevin has taken up the position of easyJet’s London Gatwick maintenance manager after more than 15 years in various roles at easyJet, latterly in the airlines Maintenance Operations Team at its head office in London Luton.
Brendan McConnellogue, easyJet’s Head of Maintenance commented: “The successful delivery of this project, which has been challenging both in terms of scale and its timeline, is another example of what can be achieved through easyJet’s innovative and lean approach, not only meeting a tight timeline, but also creating strong sustainable partnerships to deliver market leading operational performance.”
Ulrich Hollerbach, Chief Executive Officer of LTMI, commented: “This partnership project builds on and continues the successful cooperation between easyJet and Lufthansa Technik over the past years. We are extremely proud that our offer was able to fulfill the service and business model expectations of one of Europe’s leading airlines. We are absolutely sure that we will deliver the same high quality at London Gatwick which easyJet already knows from our common activities in Milan Malpensa and Berlin Schoenefeld.”
Stewart Wingate, CEO of London Gatwick Airport said: “We are delighted easyJet has decided to base its new hangar at Gatwick and look forward to continuing our support of its growing network here. This marks yet another example of a great partnership between Gatwick and easyJet, as together we are committed to providing the most efficient, fast and competitive service for our passengers. Gatwick is transforming and development of our existing airport infrastructure is crucial to ensuring our facilities meet the ever growing capacity demands. As always, we are working closely with our airline partners to improve processes both on the airfield and in the terminal.”
Ian Hindmoor, Rubb Buildings Ltd’s Managing Director, said: "We are absolutely delighted with the easyJet hangar facility at LGW. We are very proud of this flagship aviation building and of what we have produced and delivered in a challenging and complicated working environment, in such a short space of time. Rubb worked very closely with the easyJet team to produce an outstanding, custom, UK designed, manufactured and constructed Rubb MRO hangar. From early discussions, to competitive tender, design, manufacture, site setup and enablement, groundworks, steel-erection, fabric installation, through to completion, easyJet were very professional and proactive in working with all concerned to deliver a world class working environment.”
