Amac Aerospace (Stand 1079) has decided to expand its business aircraft maintenance and completion activity into the widebody VVIP segment. The Basel, Switzerland-based company has signed a contract for the completion of a VVIP Boeing 747-8 cabin interior and is building an 88,000-sq-ft hangar and preparing to hire more staff.

The 747-8 work has been ordered by “a Middle Eastern head of state.” The aircraft is to arrive in Basel in July 2012 and be completed by March 2014, when delivery to the customer is anticipated.

Amac’s third hangar, like its second, will be able to accommodate one Boeing 747-8, one A330 and two narrowbodies at a time. The expansion will increase the company’s workforce by an expected 150 jobs over the next 20 months, adding to the some100 jobs it has created at its Basel facility over the last 12 months. Amac is “preparing its application for the 747 series” but already has EASA approval for 777 maintenance.

Meanwhile, the company’s aircraft management division, based at Zurich Airport, has grown its fleet to 12 business aircraft, ranging from two Pilatus PC-12 turboprops to an Airbus A320.