Spain’s Valencia Airport is the newest location for a Cessna Citation Regional Service Center. The 100,400-sq-ft facility, the U.S. manufacturer’s third factory-owned service center in Europe, joins centers located at Paris Le Bourget Airport and in the Czech capital Prague. It will support operators in Western Europe and North Africa.
The Valencia center is approved to provide heavy maintenance for all current Citation types. According to Joe Hepburn, Cessna’s senior vice president for customer service, the facility will be further developed to handle future models such as the Citation Ten. The facility is slated to provide 24-hour customer support services as well as scheduled maintenance with capabilities including hydraulic and battery services, parts support and avionics modifications.
Initially, the Valencia center is being run by a staff of 30 people. All personnel have been trained at the manufacturer’s U.S. service centers including the one in Mesa, Ariz., on which the new facility is modeled. “Rapid growth of the region’s Citation fleet to more than 1,000 aircraft prompted us to step up our support network,” Hepburn added.