Gulfstream has opened a new MRO facility at company headquarters in Savannah. The Gulfstream East Campus, opened to accommodate fleet growth, has been operational since September 11.

A 202,000 sq ft building located on the east side of Savannah/Hilton Head International airport has been built with an investment of more than $55 million, and gives Gulfstream more than one million sq ft of dedicated MRO hangar, office and back shop space in Savannah. The expansion, announced in April 2018, is expected to result in approximately 200 customer support-related jobs over several years, some of which will be filled by graduates of Savannah Technical College's Aviation Technology Division.

“This is a great day for our customers as well as Savannah, Chatham County and Gulfstream,” comments president Mark Burns. “We are very excited about this expansion, which follows the recent entry into service of our two all-new aircraft, the Gulfstream G500 and Gulfstream G600. To help ensure those aircraft and the rest of our growing fleet continue to have the best service and support in the industry, we built and staffed this fabulous facility.

“We are grateful to many for their critical support in this project, including our parent company General Dynamics, Savannah Technical College, the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the Savannah Economic Development Authority, the Savannah airport Commission and the city of Savannah.”

In August, Gulfstream opened a service centre expansion in Appleton, Wisconsin, and has a service centre opening scheduled for late 2019 or early 2020 in Van Nuys, California. Overall, the company will open three service centre expansions and two new service centres in 2019 and 2020, adding approximately 790,000 sq ft of MRO hangars, offices and back shops in the US and Europe. The OEM's worldwide in-service fleet numbers approximately 2,800.

“Our customers choose to return to Gulfstream facilities for their service and support because they value the relationship and expertise only we can provide,” Burns explains. “By growing the number of maintenance facilities and combining them with our fleet of rapid-response vehicles and Gulfstream Field and Airborne Support Team technicians, we're offering our customers more service and support options, more accessibility and more flexibility.”

Like the existing Gulfstream Savannah service centre, the largest business aviation-dedicated MRO facility worldwide at nearly 680,000 sq ft, the Gulfstream East Campus offers operators a multitude of services, including aircraft-on-ground resources, hourly and calendar-driven airframe inspections, avionics installations and interior refurbishments.

Gulfstream's Savannah MRO operations are certified by the US FAA, EASA, the Civil Aviation Administration of China and more than 20 other civil aviation authorities worldwide. In 2018, Savannah had more than 1,500 aircraft visits.

The Gulfstream East Campus is expected to receive US Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification because of its sustainable features, which include energy-efficient lighting, enhanced control systems for heating and cooling, optimised energy performance, a commitment to recycle at least 75 per cent of construction waste, low-emitting building materials, water-saving fixtures and preferred parking for low-emission vehicles.