PENSACOLA, Fla. -- ST Engineering has officially inaugurated a new aircraft maintenance hangar at Pensacola International Airport in Florida.

The new facility is the second of four hangars at an airframe Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) complex being developed by ST Engineering. The 177,000-square-foot hangar features two bays capable of accommodating widebody aircraft, effectively doubling ST Engineering's existing capacity in Pensacola. The hangar, which currently supports a customer's Airbus A300 program, started operations in January 2023.

The new hangar is part of an airframe MRO complex that is funded by ST Engineering, Triumph Gulf Coast Inc, the City of Pensacola, Escambia County, the State of Florida, and various state and federal organizations. Upon completion, the complex will have a capacity of over two million man-hours and is projected to generate over 1,700 jobs, including skilled positions such as aircraft inspectors, airframe and powerplant technicians, and interior and avionics technicians. Construction of the third and fourth hangars is slated to commence in the second half of 2023.

Jeffrey Lam, President of Commercial Aerospace at ST Engineering, said, "The opening of this latest hangar for our airframe MRO complex comes at a time when air travel is rapidly recovering to pre-pandemic levels, giving us the necessary capacity to pursue new opportunities in the Americas and support our loyal customers."

"We are thankful for the support from the community, organizations, and institutions in Pensacola that have helped with the development and opening of our newest hangar," said Timothy McBride, President of ST Engineering North America. "As the aviation industry continues to recover from the pandemic, the airframe MRO complex will create hundreds of new job opportunities in the region. We are dedicated to working with state and local leaders to maintain Northwest Florida's status as a national hub for the aviation industry, and to bring more high-quality engineering and aviation maintenance jobs to the community."

In addition to its presence in Pensacola, ST Engineering also has aircraft maintenance facilities in other parts of the U.S., including Mobile, Alabama, and San Antonio, Texas. The company also operates an aircraft engine nacelle manufacturing and MRO facility in Middle River, Maryland, and provides aircraft engine washing services through EcoServices in Wethersfield, Connecticut.