AER LINGUS is to rent the largest hangar at Dublin airport to centralise its aircraft maintenance operation.
The airline is taking a 20-year lease on Hangar 6, which has been vacant since SRT Technics closed down its aircraft maintenance operation last summer with the loss of 1,135 jobs.
Although neither the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) nor Aer Lingus has disclosed the rent to be paid for the hangar, it is likely to be in the region of €2.25 million per annum, thus equating to about €107 per sq m (€10 per sq ft).
The deal was concluded on Christmas Eve and was the most important industrial letting in Ireland in 2009.
The 23,000 sq m building is one of the largest in the country and can house two Boeing 747 aircraft, five Boeing 737s as well providing office accommodation for 350 workers.
Aer Lingus currently employs 250 aircraft maintenance staff at Dublin airport but it has no immediate plans to increase that number, according to the company.
It said it would be using Hangar 6 “to amalgamate Dublin-based maintenance and operational functions into one location which would allow for a more streamlined and cost-effective operation”.
Jack MacGowan, director of commercial operations for the DAA, described the letting as “a strategic step forward”.
