Photo: Airbus
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIberia plans to establish an aeronautical industry hub for Southern Europe by re-industrializing its 1.7 million square meters maintenance facility. Madrid mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida was invited to get familiarized with the project.
The development of the project is aimed at:
- Driving aircraft engine maintenance business with the approval for the latest Pratt & Whitney’s GTF and CFM’s LEAP engines powering the Airbus A320neo.
- Opening an aeronautical training school by expanding Iberia’s Maintenance Instruction Center at Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suárez Airport (MAD). It will create aviation-related jobs for young unemployed people.
The project will seek to re-industrialize the 1.7 million square meters La Muñoza site. Up until now, Iberia have only used 220,000 square meters of the site for aircraft maintenance.
Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida said: “Today we learned about Iberia’s bet on the future, be means of the conversion of the La Muñoza maintenance installations into a major technological hub for the aviation industry. In this effort, they will have the full support of the Madrid Council to enhance the city’s importance in this industry.”
Iberia’s Executive Chairman Javier Sánchez-Prieto said: “The aviation business is one of the most competitive in Spain and this project in our installations adjoining the Madrid Airport supplies new impulse to the aircraft engine maintenance business, the development of sustainable energy sources, and aeronautical training.”
The La Muñoza site gets 100% of electric power from renewable sources. In the nearest future, Iberia will be installing solar panels on its engine workshop roof, which will generate 80 million kWh. By doing this, the carrier will reduce current CO2 emissions by 1,053,000 kg per year, or 32,000 tonnes during its working lifetime.