LONDON – European low cost airline, easyJet has now opened their first maintenance hangar that is located outside of Great Britain. It was unveiled yesterday at Berlin’s Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport (BER).
The joint opening ceremony between easyJet, German airport operator Flughafengesellschaft Berlin Brandenburg (FBB) and the Brandenburg state government was hosted by Professor Dr. Ing Jorg Steinbach.
The Minister for Economic Affairs, Labour and Energy of the State of Brandenburg, Aletta Von Massenbach, Chairwoman of the Management Board of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburh GmbH and Thomas Haagensen, Group Markets Director at EasyJet and Managing Director of easyJet Europe were also present.
A four bay, purpose built facility will allow simultaneous work on four aircraft the size of Airbus A321neo and will allow extensive maintenance and repair work in the case of light base maintenance, proving to be a huge step forward in its maintenance operations.
“So now our maintenance operations here at BER can get underway and we look forward to welcoming many more aircraft from our modern easyJet Europe fleet in the coming years as we continue to renew the fleet, with the ultimate ambition to transition our fleet to zero carbon emission aircraft.”
The hangar that is located southwest of Terminal 1 at the airport will provide key additional capacity to the Luton based airline, and will ensure it can operate at its most competitive, whilst also providing better safety and improved efficiency for the low cost airline.
“The opening of the maintenance hangar is a great milestone to start the year with. We would like to thank our partners for their support in carrying out this ambitious project and we look forward to returning one of the first aircraft maintained here today back into our operation,” said Captain David Morgan, easyJet’s Chief Operating Officer.
“The NEO aircraft is equipped with the latest Descent Profile Optimisation (DPO) technology which is one of the ways we can achieve substantial and permanent carbon emission reductions by enabling the most efficient descents.”
Investment of this maintenance facility came in at 20 million euros, and it represents the airlines ongoing commitment to the Berlin Brandenburg region.
Construction of the 19,600m² hangar commenced in September 2021, along with its chosen partner MRO facilities. MRO managed the design and construction of the hangar and was tasked with delivering a facility that would provide market leading operational performance.
It was also was built in accordance with the German Building Energy Act Gebäudeenergiegesetz (GEG) and meets the requirements for energy efficient construction in the EU.
Upon the first ground breaking of this project in 2021, Stephan Erler, Country Manager for Germany at easyJet told BER:
“Today’s first cut of the spade is an important milestone for our commitment in the Capital Region of Berlin-Brandenburg and I am very pleased that, after 17 years of constant commitment, we, with the commencement of construction work on our new maintenance hangar, have now been able to take the next strategic step towards the future of our base at BER airport.”
“As a clear sign of our loyalty to our Berlin location we have decided to set up our first easyJet maintenance hangar outside Great Britain here at BER airport and thus extend our market position in the Capital Region still further, always combined with a long-term, sustainable approach for the economic region Berlin-Brandenburg.”
Plans are now in place for the carrier’s fleet of 135 Austrian registered jets to be maintained at this, it’s first facility in continental Europe.
