Estimated reading time 4 minutes, 26 seconds.
The inflatable hangar at Budapest Airport will provide excess capacity for Lufthansa Technik, which has received a large number of orders for the winter period. Budapest Airport Photo
Aircraft engineers of Lufthansa Technik Budapest no longer have to worry about freezing winter weather, as a huge special inflatable hangar has been commissioned at their Budapest base, the dimensions of which allow indoor parking of an Airbus A320 or a Boeing 737.
The unusual technical solution has been made necessary due to the Ferihegy-based Lufthansa Technik Budapest receiving so many orders for the winter period. Their existing hangar capacity—accommodating up to five mid-size aircraft simultaneously—proved insufficient. Budapest Airport and Lufthansa Technik made a joint decision to erect a temporary inflatable hangar purely for the purpose of civil aviation, the first in Europe.
The inflatable hangar produced by Buildair of Spain, selected as a reference facility, is already operated at Getafe Air Base, in the vicinity of the Spanish capital, where Airbus’ division in assembling military transport and tanker planes is based. The floor-space of the facility reaches 4000 square metres, and is currently foreseen to be operated for six months in Ferihegy—for as long as weather conditions make it necessary. The inflatable hangar has already proven its reliability, safely withholding winds of 70-80 km/hour in the middle of October, only a few days after it was erected.
The inflatable hangar is similar in principle to inflatable covers for tennis courts or swimming pools—but is much larger and stronger than such covers. Budapest Airport Photo
“This type of hangar has already passed the test in Spain, but in Budapest we now have an opportunity to test the durability of the Buildair structure in more demanding winter conditions as well. The inflatable hangar is operated on the basis of the same principle as inflatable covers for tennis courts or swimming pools, but our product is much bigger and is capable of withholding significantly stronger loads,” emphasised José Antonio Sanz, Commercial Director, Buildair.
“The Budapest base of Lufthansa Technik is receiving more and more orders, we perform annual maintenance and/or 30-day overhauls for an increasing number of airlines. In aviation, the winter period is traditionally the peak season for repair and maintenance and we can only meet the increased demand with this extraordinary solution in the winter of 2014/2015,” said Dietmar Focke, the new CEO of Lufthansa Technik Budapest who took up his post in Hungary just recently. He added: “Hungarian and foreign professionals working here are doing a great job and thanks to the inflatable hangar we can create additional high-value jobs at our Budapest base where only a few days ago we celebrated the handover of the 100th aircraft of Norwegian Airlines repaired by us.”
The hangar is large enough to accommodate an Airbus A320 or Boeing 737. Budapest Airport Photo
“I am happy to see that our long-term cooperation with Lufthansa Technik has reached a new stage. Last year we handed over a 2000-square-metre spare-parts warehouse, this year’s novelty is the inflatable hangar. Our next project in the aviation MRO-business is the construction of a dedicated Wizz Air maintenance hangar. Budapest Airport is ready to support the operation and success of its long-term airport partners with sustainable investments,” said René Droese, Property Director, Budapest Airport.
