Yingling Aviation, an independent FBO and MRO  at Wichita Eisenhower National Airport (KICT), has acquired the lease to a former Hawker Beechcraft Services hangar that allows it to expand its MRO activities and, for the first time, add aircraft paint services, the company announced Wednesday.

The 50,000-sq-ft hangar is just north of Yingling’s main facilities at KICT and includes a paint booth large enough to accommodate up to a Hawker 800 midsize jet. “That's been the one missing aircraft service from our menu for a long, long time,” Yingling owner Lynn Nichols told AIN.

The addition of the Hawker hangar as well as the construction of a separate, 23,000-sq-ft avionics and maintenance hangar will give Yingling 73,000 sq ft of space on top of its 125,000 sq ft of existing facilities, Nichols said. Renovations are under way on the paint and prep areas and should be complete by mid-January 2019. More extensive renovations to the Hawker hangar will occur throughout 2019, he said. The new avionics hangar is expected to be completed in January 2019.

In all, Nichols said work on the Hawker and new avionics hangars will be a $4 million investment. He expects to add 25 employees with the hangar expansions, primarily A&Ps, avionics technicians, painters, and sheet metal mechanics. “We think we’ve got the business growth to fill it up,” Nichols said. “My only concern is there’s a talent shortage getting the people to work on the aircraft.”