ANDREW DOYLE / MANILA
A consortium led by UK construction consultancy Mace is preparing to start building an $850 million aircraft maintenance and training facility at the former Clark AB in the Philippines after signing a 25-year lease agreement with the Clark Development Corporation.
The first phase of the project involves the construction of four 36,000m2 (390,000ft2) hangars over the next two to three years, each of which will have three bays capable of housing Boeing 747-400s.
Mace Transport International (MTI) managing director Gary Walker says negotiations are under way with several major airframe maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) providers that have expressed an interest in taking over the hangars. MTI was recently registered in the Philippines as a special-purpose company to act as lead consultant on the project.
"We have spoken to anyone who has got business in Asia and operates in the MRO market," says Walker. "The market is there for hangars with the capability for C and D checks," he adds.
Walker declines to name any of the companies, although the list is understood to include Singapore Technologies Aerospace, FedEx Express and Lufthansa Technik Philippines. Component and aero-engine MRO providers are also being targeted.
Source: Flight International
