EasyJet, Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH (FBB) and the Brandenburg state government celebrated the opening of the easyJet maintenance hangar at Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport (BER) with a joint opening ceremony. Professor Jörg Steinbach, Minister for Economic Affairs, Labour and Energy of the State of Brandenburg, Aletta von Massenbach, Chief Executive Officer of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH, and Thomas Haagensen, Group Markets Director at easyJet and Managing Director of easyJet Europe, welcomed invited guests with speeches.
easyJet has stationed its own aircraft in the Berlin-Brandenburg capital region since 2004 and has since been closely linked with FBB and the entire economic region in a cooperative partnership. The investment of around 20 million euros underlines the significance of the base at BER and ensures the connectivity of the entire capital region, which is directly linked to a large number of European metropolitan regions by easyJet’s extensive route network. The opening of the hangar is also a milestone for the further expansion of easyJet’s maintenance operations and ensures smooth maintenance and servicing work for the 135-aircraft easyJet Europe fleet. This further improves the efficiency of operational processes and saves maintenance costs in the long run.
The easyJet hangar was built in BER’s Maintenance Area, south-west of Terminal 1. Construction work began in September 2021. Covering a total area of 11,500 square metres, the hangar itself comprises 10,000 square metres with room to work on four aircraft at the same time up to the size of the Airbus A321neo. easyJet has also continued to expand the on-site team at the maintenance station, which has already been operating since 2020, so that in future more than 100 easyJet employees will be responsible for the supervision and management of all on-site aircraft maintenance activities and further jobs will be created for maintenance engineers and technical staff in the region.
Thomas Haagensen, Group Markets Director at easyJet and Managing Director of easyJet Europe: “Today’s opening of our maintenance hangar at BER is an important milestone in our commitment to the Berlin-Brandenburg capital region. It represents another chapter in our long-term investment plans as a strong partner for regional economic development. By expanding our infrastructure for maintaining and servicing the easyJet Europe fleet, we aim to continue to ensure connectivity with numerous European metropolises and holiday destinations, as well as creating new local jobs.
We are happy that 2023 can begin with maintenance operations in our new hangar and we would like to thank our partners for their support in carrying out this ambitious and extensive construction project and are looking forward to being able to carry out the maintenance of our modern easyJet Europe fleet here on site in future, as well as keeping future aircraft fit for every-day operations with zero-emission technologies in this hangar at BER as soon as possible through our continuous fleet renewal.”
Aletta von Massenbach, Chief Executive Officer of Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH: “easyJet has a significant route network from BER. The decision to build the new maintenance site here at BER is, therefore, obvious and at the same time also an important commitment to the capital region. This modern hangar will safely and efficiently provide maintenance to easyJet’s European fleet. BER and the airline have further deepened their partnership through this joint construction project and are sending a clear message about their future together.
The easyJet hangar at a glance
- Maintenance: more comprehensive maintenance and servicing work (light base maintenance) for aircraft in the European easyJet fleet (Austrian AOC)
- Start of construction: Autumn 2021
- Start of maintenance work: January 2023
- Location: new BER Maintenance Area, south-west of Terminal 1
- Hangar hall size: 10.000 m²: space for four Airbus A321s at the same time
- Hangar area size: 11,500 m²
- Hangar design: Lightweight steel construction
- Investment volume for hangar and maintenance station: approx. 20 million euros
- New jobs for highly qualified skilled workers/engineers
