Bombardier today celebrated the grand opening of its expanded service in Singapore, which quadruples the size of the original center the Canadian airframer opened in 2014 and signals the pending openings of a trio of other expanded company-owned service centers. Under the $85 million expansion, the service center at Seletar Aerospace Park now encompasses 290,000 sq ft (27,000 sq m)—up from 70,000 sq ft—and includes new customer facilities, a full-service, double-bay paint facility large enough to support the Global 7500, advanced interior finishing capabilities, as well as engineering, sales, and customer support operations.
New structural, composite, and component overhaul and repair capabilities have been added, as has an integrated parts depot with an additional $15 million in inventory. Global aircraft customers can also lease BR710 engines from Rolls-Royce at the center. The service center supports 200 jobs and Bombardier is hiring another 50 workers at that location.
“Not only is this facility helping us capture tremendous growth on the aftermarket side—there’s already about 350 Bombardier aircraft in Asia-Pacific—but that facility is also Bombardier planting the flag in Singapore for all of the deliveries we’ll make to Asia as we move forward,” Bombardier executive v-p of services, support, and corporate strategy Jean-Christophe Gallagher told AIN. “So we really see Singapore as our headquarters as a company for Asia-Pacific as we move forward.”
The site is expected to support about 2,000 business jet visits annually. Jetex will provide FBO and ground handling operations at the site, which are expected to be operational later this summer.
The expansion design has achieved Singapore’s Green Mark Gold and the U.S. Green Building Council Silver LEED Green Building certifications. Some of its environmental features include solar panels on the roof and carpark structures which will provide 15 percent of the site’s annual electricity consumption. Other green features are LED lighting, low-flow plumbing fixtures, and automated water reticulation for improved water conservation.
Gallagher said Singapore is the first of four service center grand openings Bombardier is planning to hold this year: a new and expanded service center at London Biggin Hill in early September; Essendon Fields Airport in Melbourne, Australia, in late September; and Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport in October. For Bombardier’s customer support operations, those openings will make for “a very, very busy season ahead of us,” Gallagher added.