Grob Aerospace’s new base at St. Gallen-Altenrhein, Switzerland - 100 new jobs created

Monday 19th May, 2008

Grob Aerospace is to establish a new completions and training facility for its spn light jet at St. Gallen-Altenrhein Airport in Switzerland. The facility will be headed by newly appointed Managing Director of Grob Aerospace Switzerland, Cedric Migeon.

Due to formally open in the second quarter of 2009, the new facility will see the creation of an initial 100 new jobs. Some 50 of them will be dedicated to completions work and a further 20 specialising in pilot training activity. By 2010, the St. Gallen workforce will total 100. Grob Aerospace determined St. Gallen-Altenrhein would be an ideal site for its completions and training needs, being well placed geographically between its Zurich headquarters and the OEM’s manufacturing facility in Tussenhausen-Mattsies in Germany, along the shores of Lake Constance.
“We chose St. Gallen-Altenrhein because we believe it is an optimised location for our customers,” said Niall Olver, CEO of Grob Aerospace. “Furthermore, the positive attitude from both the airport’s management and dignitaries in the region really convinced us that this region near Lake Constance is an efficient and obvious location to expand our workforce. Importantly, we will be sourcing our own management and employees to work on the training and completions activities,” he stated.

Completions
The manufactured aircraft will be ferried from Grob Aerospace’s facility in Mattsies, Germany to St. Gallen-Altenrhein where the interior completion will be carried out. The completion facilities include a 2,000m2 hangar holding typically six aircraft, together with a 1,000m2 workshop and a 1,000m2 office complex used for completion management, as well as a customer centre. An interior specifications show room will form part of the customer centre, where customers can determine their own cabin interior. A third hangar, sized to hold up to four aircraft, will also be available for the company’s use, as it ramps up to a one aircraft per week delivery schedule. North American customer aircraft will be ferried to Grob Aerospace Inc’s Portsmouth, New Hampshire facility for delivery.

Customer Deliveries
A dedicated 1,000m2 hangar, situated at the centre of the building will be capable of holding two aircraft. This building, featuring a glass front, will serve as an ideal showcase for the final acceptance of the aircraft. Customer offices for clients are also situated in this complex. Up to 4 deliveries per month will be conducted at this facility.

Training
The training center situated in the St Gallen- Altenrhein facility will feature state-of-the-art training equipment, including a virtual procedure trainer and a computer-based trainer. Grob Aerospace will use a Level D flight simulator for its pilot training. Up to 20 training instructors and support staff will be managing the dedicated training centre. Similar facilities will be established in the USA in due course.

St. Gallen-Altenrhein will also be home to the flight ops team to co-ordinate the demonstration flights of the spn demonstrator aircraft based there.

About St Gallen Altenrhein

St. Gallen-Altenrhein (LSZR) is a Swiss business airport located on Lake Constance in the border region of East Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein, an hour’s drive from Zurich. The airport plays an important role in hosting VIPs arriving by business jets for the annual World Economic Forum in Davos and as gateway to some of the major ski resorts in Switzerland and Austria. Austrian Airlines has four daily scheduled flights between St.Gallen-Altenrhein and Vienna.

About the spn
The spn boasts an impressive range and payload for an aircraft in its class. With six passengers and one pilot, the aircraft can fly non-stop 1,800 nm (3,334 km / 2,071 mi). The aircraft features a total cabin volume of 405 cu.ft (11.5 m³) – by far the largest among light business jet, as well as a large passenger door.
Early sales success for the industry’s new generation light business jet has raised market interest with its unique operating characteristics. For example, requiring a balanced field length of just 3,000 ft (914 m) at maximum take off weight, it can operate out of fields traditionally the domain of a turboprop; even out of unimproved runways.
The spn will also be certified for single pilot operation, and is equipped with an avionics suite more advanced than that of any other aircraft in its class. Honeywell’s integrated all glass cockpit sets new standards for simplicity, reliability and technology. Two rear-mounted FADEC controlled Williams FJ44-3A engines deliver 2,800 lbs (1,270 kg) of thrust.
Grob Aerospace – 37 Years of Aviation History
Grob Aerospace is one of the world’s largest and most experienced composite aircraft manufacturers. It has delivered more than 3,500 aircraft that have flown over seven million hours on five continents. The company is headquartered in Switzerland but maintains its own purpose built airfield in Tussenhausen-Mattsies, Germany that accommodates its manufacturing and assembly facilities. In 2007 Grob Aerospace established a wholly-owned US subsidiary to provide a complete, world-class ownership experience to North American customers. Grob Aerospace‘s central base in the United States is located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire with several regional sales offices throughout the USA.

www.grob-aerospace.com