British Airways has announced it will acquire Boeing’s hangar facility and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business at Gatwick Airport.
The move aims to secure jobs at the site while expanding the airline’s presence at the key airport.
Under the agreement, the airline will create a new wholly-owned engineering subsidiary called British Airways Engineering Gatwick (BAEG), joining its existing engineering operations in South Wales and Glasgow.
Current Boeing employees at the facility will, subject to an information and consultation process, transfer to the new subsidiary in the second quarter of this year.
British Airways Chief Technical Officer, Andy Best, said: “Today’s announcement will help us to be the very best in the business by bringing in the skills and expertise of former Boeing colleagues and adding a large, modern hangar to our portfolio of Engineering facilities. It will support the reliability of our entire fleet, which is good news for our customers and colleagues.”
The acquisition represents a significant investment for British Airways as part of its strategy to expand engineering operations.
Long-term plans include recruiting additional staff and growing the new facility at Gatwick.
“We’re proud of our Gatwick operation and this will give us a stronger presence which underlines our commitment to the airport,” Best said.
“I’d like to welcome our new colleagues to British Airways, including highly-skilled and experienced Licensed Aircraft Engineers. I’m delighted that, subject to consultation, they will be joining the BA family and I hope to be recruiting more people in the future.”
The Boeing facility acquisition will boost the airline’s engineering capabilities at Gatwick, enabling it to continue performing minor maintenance on 777 aircraft at the airport.
The increased capacity will allow British Airways to bring some scheduled heavy maintenance work on its A320/321 fleet in-house.
It will also enhance capacity for unscheduled repair work, provide additional maintenance resilience, and help address capacity challenges across the network.
Performing more 777 and A320/A321 maintenance at Gatwick will reduce the need to ferry aircraft to other operational bases, supporting the airline’s wider sustainability goals.
The transaction is subject to usual conditions.
