News

Britten-Norman celebrates grand hangar opening at Solent Airport

Tuesday October 13th, 2020

Britten-Norman, the UK’s only civil A2 approved aircraft manufacturer, has celebrated the opening of two new hangars in Hampshire.

 

Britten-Norman has been designing and building aircraft for over 60 years and is a successful exporter with historic links to over 120 countries. Guests toured the new facilities which Britten-Norman will use to expand its new build provision and services maintaining aircraft already in operation around the world. Each Britten-Norman aircraft is bespoke. The Islander takes over 20,000 man-hours to build and has approximately 6,000 custom designed parts.

At the event, Britten-Norman showcased its latest new-build aircraft, an Islander ready to be delivered to the Falkland Islands Government Air Service (FIGAS) which uses Britten-Norman aircraft in a wide variety of life-line roles.

Britten-Norman also used the opening as an opportunity to thank its graduating class of apprentices: Abby Sanderson, Edward Donnelly and Sam Heath, who this month completed a four-year placement with the company. During the apprenticeship they were able to be involved with Britten-Norman’s specialist manufacturing processes as well as maintenance, avionics systems, aircraft design and engineering. All three have secured jobs with Britten-Norman.

William Hynett, CEO of Britten-Norman, commented: “Britten-Norman are a founding member of Solent Airfield, having helped turn it from a Government operation into the successful civil space it is today. The airfield is a thriving hub, home to an exciting and diverse cluster of SMEs. Together we are at the forefront of innovation in Britain’s SME aerospace sector. Britten-Norman’s new facilities will become a hub for aircraft maintenance and manufacturing. The investment also extends to future generations. Britten-Norman’s apprenticeship scheme has been running for over 15 years and it has been a delight to see our latest class develop. I was thrilled to officially welcome our graduating apprentices into the Britten-Norman team.”

Read the full story here.

 

 

Back to News