Investment Minister Tonio Fenech yesterday visited ongoing works at a new aviation park being constructed by Medavia, the aviation company based at Safi.

The EUR17m investment project is taking place on an area of 20 hectares which will be transformed into the park. An old hangar is being demolished and will be replaced by a larger two-bay hangar. Two storeys of workshops and offices will be built. A new taxi-way will also be constructed.

The works in progress, undertaken by three contractors at once, will improve the connection with the airport while facilitating aircraft maintenance works. The medium-term works must be completed by July.

SR Technics will initially be operating from the current Medavia hangar until it eventually moves next to the Lufthansa Technik hangars at Gate 4 in three years time. The first SRT planes are expected in September.

The new hangar being built on the Aviation park will house Medavia.

Mr Fenech said Malta has managed to attract the two largest aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) companies; Lufthansa Technik and SRT. Medavia and Aero Maritime have been established in Malta for a good number of years and Malta was therefore continuing to attract interest in the sector. A smaller company, MCM, which carries out maintenance on executive jets, has also set base in Malta and has been operating from the Malta International Airport Park 3 grounds for over six months.

Triq il-Karwija, the road leading to Safi, will be closed for around six months as it will be serving as an airside until the taxiway is shifted. It will then be re-routed from the back.

The AFM compound was also relocated.

Mr Fenech described the project as having very ambitious time frames since the SRT agreement must be honoured and it plans to start operating in mid-summer.

The aviation park will be creating hundreds of jobs, especially because companies offering ancillary services to MRO plants are being attracted, Mr Fenech said. Moreover, SRT alone was to create 350 jobs in the future, he added.

Architect David Xuereb, who is in charge of the works and project management said the construction techniques adopted made the project sustainable as old material was being recycled. Such plans were also saving money.

A water management system is in place through which water is being collected and used in maintenance works while stone and steel from the hangar being demolished will be incorporated into the new building and hangar. This will also have the necessary insulation to minimise the need for heating and cooling systems.