Aircraft are complex machines that require immaculate maintenance, repair, and overhaul at various intervals throughout their lifetime. Aircraft are subject to extreme wear due to varying environmental and operational conditions. Extensive maintenance facilities are required to carry out such operations, whether the engine overhaul or heaving maintenance on a jetliner.

With thousands of parts, aircraft maintenance operations comprise hundreds of processes. Irrespective of the aircraft size, almost everything from the aircraft is stripped down to the component level during heavy maintenance. Large maintenance hangers, machine shops, and test facilities are necessary to perform the job.

American Airlines' Tulsa base

The American Airlines maintenance base in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the largest commercial aviation facility in the world. The facility spans over 33 acres with maintenance hangers and shop space covering over three million square feet (280,000 sqm). American Airlines uses the facility for the maintenance and overhaul of its small and large aircraft.

American Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner and two Boeing 777 aircraft in a holding pattern at Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, CA
Photo: Tupungato | Shutterstock

With more than 5,000 employees, the facility significantly contributes to the city’s economy. American Airlines plans to expand its operations at the facility by hiring 400 new employees. In 2022, the maintenance facility overhauled over 245 aircraft.

HAECO Xiamen maintenance facility

The Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company (HAECO) Xiamen Group in China is building the world’s largest single-span aircraft maintenance facility. The facility will be located at Xiamen Xiang’an International Airport (to be completed in 2025) in the Fujian Province of China.

HAECO Xiamen currently operates out of its Gaoqi International Airport facility and will relocate to the new facility upon completion. The facility covers nearly 6 million square feet (540,000 sqm) of space, half of which will have maintenance hangars and the other half for the apron area. The constructed area would comprise 18 buildings, including engineering, test bays, utility tunnels, and an aviation fuel supply center.

HAECO Xiamen plans to build 6 narrowbody and 12 widebody maintenance bays in the new facility. Moreover, two brand-new painting bays would provide additional capability and flexible accommodation for additional aircraft. HAECO Xiamen aims to maximize space utilization while optimizing operational efficiency during maintenance.

With HAECO Xiamen’s move into the new facility, the maintenance turnaround times are expected to lower while meeting customers’ demands. At its completion in 2025, the new facility will become the largest single span aircraft maintenance facility in the world.

Bombardier’s Singapore Service Center

Bombardier’s Singapore Service Center, located in Seletar Aerospace Park, is the largest aircraft maintenance facility in the Asia-Pacific region. With the recent expansion, the service center spans nearly 300,000 square feet (28,000 sqm). The facility provides maintenance capabilities to Bombardier’s Learjet, Challenger, and Global aircraft operators.

Various Component, Repair, and Overhaul (CRO) processes for business jets take place. An environmentally controlled paint shop also complements the facility and aids in meeting customer demands. The facility can support over 2,000 business jet visits a year.

Aeroman’s maintenance center

Aeroman Holding is the operator of the largest aircraft maintenance center in Latin America. The facility spans 22,000 square feet (2,000 sqm) in El Salvador. The state-of-the-art facility, completed in June 2019, has a capacity of 14 aircraft.

The facility will have the capability of servicing the Boeing 777X. Alongside heavy maintenance, the facility can clean and paint passenger seats and cabin galleys.

What do you think about some of the largest aircraft maintenance facilities? Tell us in the comments section.