It’s a “aeronautical cathedral” in the words of the Airport. Large of 8520m2, the hangar will be able to accommodate one A380 or up to five A320s at the same time. It is the Luxembourg company Vallair Industry, which already has a workshop at the airport, which will use it. She has already occupied the premises since February, in fact. A 15-year occupancy agreement has been signed. Vallair intends to use this XXL tool in particular to set up a line for converting airliners into cargo planes.
Châteauroux-Déols, at the forefront of the world
36m high, the hangar is a world rarity. There are only 23 structures of this type in the world, including three in France.
“We made a choice, with the Region, to have a large capacity hangar. The interest is to project oneself into the future” says Dominique Roullet, president of Marcel-Dassault Airport. “No one can say today what the aviation, aeronautics of tomorrow will be like. We have to be able to accommodate A380 aircraft. It would have been a shame to see it smaller.“
We wanted to raise the airport to a national, European and global level. The development of the airport, which we have been thinking about for years, goes through this hangar – Dominique Roullet, President of Marcel-Dassault Airport
The work lasted two years and cost 25 million euros, financed by the Region. Of the 14 companies that participated in the construction, 11 are located in Indre. Vallair will pay rent between 800 and 900,000 euros per year to occupy this space.
– Xavier Ponroy
This XXL hangar is perhaps only the first of this type. “It is an achievement that will bring other projects” specifies the president. The airport still has 40 hectares of land reserve.
Key jobs
In this custom-calibrated tool, the company Vallair Industry will therefore devote itself to the maintenance of aircraft, and the rehabilitation of passenger transport aircraft into freight aircraft.
The president of Vallair has also announced a “world premiere“this Friday: for the first time, A330 type aircraft will be transformed into cargo planes. Each aircraft represents about 10,000 working hours.
Work precisely, there will be a lot. “We have a recruitment plan for 250 people over the next five years. We triple the current capacity of the company“ indicates Grégoire Lebigot. “We chose Vallair because of its industrial project, which is solid“supports Dominique Roullet.
A new control tower
Consequence of the creation of this shed, a new control tower had to be built. Indeed, with its 36 meters high, the “Cathedral” surpassed the tower already in place, 27 meters high.
“Civil Aviation asked us for a new control tower, to compensate for the ‘mask’ created by this hangar from the view of the controller. Part of the runway tower is currently hidden by the hangar” specifies Didier Lefresne, general manager of the airport.
The new control tower, nicknamed “The Lighthouse”, measures 42m.