Inflatable Hangars Are Revolutionising Aviation Maintenance
A bird hits an aircraft or the aircraft hits a tug. Whatever the nature of the incident, if the aircraft needs emergency repairs or even just a detailed inspection, it will also need an aircraft hangar. If one is not immediately available either because the airport is busy or the accident occurred in a location where none is available, the operator may be looking at considerable AOG time. Nobody wants the clock ticking on AOG.
An innovative solution to such problems, and increasingly many others is Inflatable Hangars. For airline operators, their biggest strength is that they can reduce AOG time spent waiting for a hanger simply by ordering or investing in a ‘hanger-in-a-bag’.
The broader hangar market is expected to generate CAGR of at least 3% over the 5 years from 2020-2024. The pandemic may accelerate growth as owners and operators try to find ways to protect and maintain their fleets of parked planes, especially those in inhospitable conditions. Climate controlled, inflatable hangars offering protection against humidity, the death knell for planes, may see rising demand.
The construction of traditional hangars in remote places or fragile ecosystems can leave a damaging environmental footprint. The inflatable hangar segment may also account for a greater proportion of this growth due to its green credentials and more importantly also its portability, convenience and versatility. Let’s explore these in detail.
- Enable emergency or scheduled repair and maintenance work on demand.
- Provide a controlled maintenance shelter in which engineers and technical crew can be protected from the elements particularly in harsh environments
- Are modular and can be transported in relatively small packages or bins
- They can be easily stored and transported by air, sea or land.
- Reduce or minimize AOG time that would have been spent waiting in a hangar queue or stuck in a remote location without adequate facilities.
Time is truly money for airlines and aircraft operators. inflatable hangar facilities help minimise the cost of delays by reducing AOG times.
