The 5.7 hectare hangar will be used to carry out maintenance checks on Qantas’ A380 and Boeing 747 aircraft during ground time in Los Angeles. It will also have capacity to support Qantas’ new B787-9 Dreamliner when it enters service in late 2017.
Qantas’ previous hangar at LAX was built at the start of the jet era in 1958. It was demolished to make way for broader improvements to the airport, triggering the construction of the new facility. With 50% more space than this previous LAX hangar, which was also used to maintain its A380s and B747s, the facility has the capacity for four aircraft to be worked on simultaneously. Its higher capacity is expected to cut the time it takes to carry out maintenance tasks by about 20%. Its size means Qantas will also have the ability to bid for work on other carriers’ aircraft.
Says Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce: "We can have up to four aircraft on the ground at LAX at once and some are here for around 14 hours, so it makes sense to have a facility where we can make good use of that time by doing scheduled maintenance. Ultimately, this helps us increase the amount of time our aircraft can spend serving our customers.
“Australia will always be where we do the majority of our maintenance, and we’ve invested heavily in our onshore facilities in recent years, but LAX is our next biggest transit point so we’re pleased to now have a facility that reflects that."
