Manufacturing facilities to be added at revamped Savannah headquarters
Gulfstream has launched a seven-year, $300 million redevelopment of its Savannah, Georgia headquarters that includes expansion of its manufacturing facility and a new service centre. The company is pushing up production of its large-cabin business jets from 63 deliveries last year to 72 this year and 79 in 2007, and expects the growth in demand to continue.
The expansion will begin with construction of a new 53,000m² (570,000ft²) service centre on the south-west side of Savannah/Hilton Head airport. This will replace the existing 19,400m² service centre at Gulfstream’s main site on the north-west side of the airport, which will be converted to a manufacturing facility and another 20,600m² manufacturing building constructed alongside. Gulfstream says the additional space will enable it to arrange production more efficiently than in the current plant, which is the same size it was in the 1960s when the company was building around 20 aircraft a year.
Gulfstream’s main office will be revamped to include a new sales and design centre, and a large engineering centre will be constructed on the manufacturing campus to replace temporary buildings and leased offsite offices. Another paint hangar will be added to support increased production.
GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
