British Airways announces multimillion-pound investment in Cardiff base

The airline said it will expand one of three existing maintenance bays at the site to facilitate its larger long-haul Airbus A350 aircraft.

Neil Lancefield
Friday 22 November 2024 10:27 GMT
British Airways has announced a multimillion-pound investment in its maintenance engineering facility at Cardiff airport (British Airways/PA)
British Airways has announced a multimillion-pound investment in its maintenance engineering facility at Cardiff airport (British Airways/PA)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

British Airways has announced a multimillion-pound investment in its maintenance engineering facility at Cardiff Airport.

The airline said it will expand one of three existing maintenance bays at the site to facilitate its larger long-haul Airbus A350 aircraft.

This will create a second fully flexible bay, allowing more complex work to be completed.

The expanded facility provides us with greater flexibility

Andy Best, British Airways

The base can currently only serve Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft.

The expansion, which is part of BA’s £7 billion transformation, will begin next year and is expected to be completed by 2026.

Some 480 people are employed by the carrier in the Welsh capital.

BA chief technical officer Andy Best said: “Our Welsh engineering base is an integral part of our maintenance operation, and this investment, as part of our wider maintenance strategy, will ensure that British Airways Engineering Wales continues to play a key role for many years to come.

“The expanded facility provides us with greater flexibility and control over our heavy maintenance activity on both the Boeing and Airbus long-haul fleets, ensuring more efficient planning and execution.”

Rebecca Evans, the Welsh Government’s Economy, Energy and Planning Secretary, said: “This is very welcome news from British Airways, paving the way for further growth at their Cardiff site and its highly skilled workforce.

“This announcement once again demonstrates the vital role that Cardiff Airport plays in bringing investment into Wales and in growing our aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul sector, where we see continued international interest.”

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in