Post by vgp on Apr 10, 2008 13:52:44 GMT 12
New hangar speeds Eagle Air maintenance
By CHRIS GARDNER - Waikato Times | Thursday, 10 April 2008
Eagle Airways will more than double its maintenance facilities when a new $1.5 million hangar opens at its Hamilton headquarters.
Tauranga builders SNS Construction will next week hand the hangar over to Eagle Airways, which operates 17 Beech 1900D airlines domestically.
Eagle Air general manager Grant Kerr said the company used an existing two-plane hangar for nightly maintenance, between 7am and 5am, and leased space in a neighbouring hangar, belonging to Hamilton Aero Maintenance, for heavy maintenance visits (HMVs). Such visits typically took two weeks as every 19-seat plane, at the manufacturer's insistence, was regularly stripped to its airframe and inspected one rivet at a time.
Mr Kerr said Eagle Air, which is one of the largest of Air New Zealand's four wholly owned domestic operators with 230 staff, had considered building the hangar at other airports across the country but Hamilton was chosen because it made sense to join it to an existing hangar at company headquarters. "We have been pushing for this for over three years," engineering manager Stuart McIntosh said.
The new 42m x 30m hangar would add to engineering staff comfort as engineers would no longer be required to walk across an open paddock.
"We hope to significantly reduce the amount of time for HMVs to six days," he said. Shorter turnaround than six days was unlikely due to the time needed to freight replacement parts from the US. It also left Eagle Air with the option of increasing capacity.
Mr Kerr said Eagle Airways was taking delivery of an 18th Beech on May 19 the second addition to its fleet in 18 months and would begin operating a new Whakatane to Wellington route on that day. The other 16 planes, which are about six years old, would require more maintenance as they age. "We are certainly looking at what other routes we can bring to the travelling public," Mr Kerr said.
www.stuff.co.nz/waikatotimes/4473480a6415.html
By CHRIS GARDNER - Waikato Times | Thursday, 10 April 2008
Eagle Airways will more than double its maintenance facilities when a new $1.5 million hangar opens at its Hamilton headquarters.
Tauranga builders SNS Construction will next week hand the hangar over to Eagle Airways, which operates 17 Beech 1900D airlines domestically.
Eagle Air general manager Grant Kerr said the company used an existing two-plane hangar for nightly maintenance, between 7am and 5am, and leased space in a neighbouring hangar, belonging to Hamilton Aero Maintenance, for heavy maintenance visits (HMVs). Such visits typically took two weeks as every 19-seat plane, at the manufacturer's insistence, was regularly stripped to its airframe and inspected one rivet at a time.
Mr Kerr said Eagle Air, which is one of the largest of Air New Zealand's four wholly owned domestic operators with 230 staff, had considered building the hangar at other airports across the country but Hamilton was chosen because it made sense to join it to an existing hangar at company headquarters. "We have been pushing for this for over three years," engineering manager Stuart McIntosh said.
The new 42m x 30m hangar would add to engineering staff comfort as engineers would no longer be required to walk across an open paddock.
"We hope to significantly reduce the amount of time for HMVs to six days," he said. Shorter turnaround than six days was unlikely due to the time needed to freight replacement parts from the US. It also left Eagle Air with the option of increasing capacity.
Mr Kerr said Eagle Airways was taking delivery of an 18th Beech on May 19 the second addition to its fleet in 18 months and would begin operating a new Whakatane to Wellington route on that day. The other 16 planes, which are about six years old, would require more maintenance as they age. "We are certainly looking at what other routes we can bring to the travelling public," Mr Kerr said.
www.stuff.co.nz/waikatotimes/4473480a6415.html
