Honda Aircraft Company today announced another major milestone by breaking ground on a new Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul facility (MRO) located at the company's world headquarters at the Piedmont Triad International Airport. The approximately 90,000 square foot building will be completed next year, with occupancy slated by the second half of 2013, prior to the HondaJet aircraft's entry into service.
Honda Aircraft's MRO facility will complement the existing network of HondaJet dealers, with all locations delivering the same customer service experience. This new Honda Aircraft MRO facility includes a 24/7 support center to facilitate maintenance for up to 12 aircraft simultaneously. There will be several back shops for composite and sheet metal structures, avionics and interiors; and a customer area with a large pilot's lounge, individual work rooms with conference space, and a flight planning room conveniently situated near the aircraft ramp side entrance.
Anthony Piazza, vice president of Administration for American Honda Motor Co., Inc. said, "I stood near this site when Honda Aircraft Company broke ground on the world headquarters in 2007, and it's a wonderful feeling to witness the impressive expansion of Honda Aircraft facilities, and take part in the ground breaking of the new MRO that will be used to service and maintain the HondaJet fleet."
Honda Aircraft Company president and CEO Michimasa Fujino said, "We continue to make great strides as our momentum builds toward important milestones from type certification to our most important goal of delivering the HondaJet to customers around the world. This new facility that we celebrate today will play a critical role in supporting and maintaining the HondaJet fleet. I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to the community and local officials who support this major project."
Site preparation for the US$20 million state-of-the-art MRO began in February 2012, on a 54-acre extension to Honda Aircraft's world headquarters campus that is home to a state-of-the-art R&D, production and headquarter buildings encompassing over one-half million square feet of space on more than 130 acres. With the addition of the new MRO, Honda Aircraft's total capital investment for construction in the area exceeds US$120 million.
Fujino said, "It is my commitment to build the best Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul facility to serve the HondaJet customer."
The MRO facility will also house the Product Support Group whose mission is to support the customer and aircraft after delivery, and administer HondaJet Warranty and Service Plans. The MRO will have a 4,000 sq. ft. environmentally controlled spare parts warehouse.
About HondaJet
HondaJet is the most advanced light business jet aircraft, with best-in-class advantages in performance, comfort, quality and efficiency. The HondaJet is the fastest, highest-flying, most quiet and most fuel efficient in its class. The HondaJet incorporates many technological innovations in aviation design, including a unique over-the-wing engine-mount configuration that dramatically improves performance and fuel efficiency by reducing aerodynamic drag. This airframe design reduces cabin noise and ground-detected noise when overhead and allows for a more spacious cabin and greater cargo capacity. The HondaJet is powered by two highly fuel-efficient GE Honda HF120 turbofan jet engines, and is equipped with the most advanced glass flight deck available in any light business jet, a Honda-customized Garmin® G3000 next-generation all-glass avionics system with a class-leading layout of three 14-inch landscape-format displays and dual touch-screen controllers. The HondaJet is Honda's first-ever commercial aircraft and lives up to the company's reputation for superior performance, efficiency, and value.
About Honda Aircraft Company
Honda Aircraft Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Honda Motor Company, Inc., was founded in 2006 though has its heritage in more than 20 years of ground-breaking aeronautical research and development. At Honda Aircraft's World Headquarters campus in North Carolina, the birthplace of aviation, the company's associates work in more than 500,000 square feet of state-of-the-art R&D, Manufacturing and Administration Headquarter buildings to develop, produce, market and support the HondaJet with HondaJet dealers. The challenging spirit upon which Mr. Soichiro Honda founded Honda Motors is still alive today as Honda Aircraft fulfills one of Honda's long-standing dreams to advance human mobility skyward.
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