Britten-Norman to expand its civil aircraft manufacturing facilities

The company has signed a lease for two new purpose-built hangars that form part of Fareham Borough Council’s newly established aviation park. The new hangars will provide the company with modern, airside accommodation to further grow its business as part of its commitment to UK exports.

Specifically, the additional 13,000ft² will provide a new aircraft final assembly plant for the group’s manufacturing subsidiary, Britten-Norman Aircraft, as well as providing a dedicated space for Britten-Norman’s aerospace services business, BN Aviation. From this site, BN Aviation will provide OEM aircraft refurbishment, EASA Part 145 MRO services, international field servicing and specialist avionics and mission systems integration.

As a Garmin approved dealer, BN Aviation will also provide services to the wider General Aviation community. The expansion will allow the group’s military support business, BN Defence, to use its existing facilities at Daedalus to expand output to meet increased demand in the military MRO sector.

Britten-Norman chief executive, William Hynett, said: “Our commitment to Daedalus started when we moved our airfield operations here in 2010. Our military operations centre, BN Defence, has created over 60 jobs on the site and we now intend to utilise the airfield as our primary aircraft operating base for our UK civil operations as well, creating or safeguarding another 50 jobs. To date we have invested over £20 million into the local community and now look forward to increasing that investment further.”

A founding member of the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Britten-Norman has occupied various parts of the airfield since it emerged out of restricted Government ownership eight years ago. It now occupies three hangars with a total footprint of 34,000ft².

www.britten-norman.com