One of Manchester Airport’s largest hangars – previously operated by Thomas Cook Airlines prior to their 2019 collapse – is to reopen as a maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) facility.

The airport’s operator – Manchester Airports Group – has agreed to terms with STS Aviation Services, which will lease the site and create an aircraft base maintenance station in the northwest of England.

STS Aviation expects that the hangar, capable of undertaking multiple lines of aircraft maintenance, will create more than 200 new jobs in the region over the next two years. The company already has two base maintenance sites in the UK – at Birmingham Airport and another at Cornwall Airport Newquay.

The company plans to start its recruitment drive immediately with a view to the facility coming online this October.

Mick Adams, CEO of STS Aviation Services in Europe, says “In the coming months, our team will introduce [more than 100] jobs in Manchester with 100 more coming online in 2023. And as part of STS’ long-term resourcing strategy, we will launch new trainee and apprenticeship schemes, something that is critical to the future of aviation in the United Kingdom. I am enormously proud of the STS Aviation Services’ team members who have made this, our next stage of growth, possible.”

Mark Smith, President of STS Aviation Group, added: “This is a very exciting project for our team; one that will see STS Aviation Services positioned as the largest and most dynamic independent MRO in the United Kingdom. As STS Aviation Services continues to grow its global footprint, we remain excited about bringing new jobs, new customers and our team’s innovative aircraft maintenance solutions to Manchester.”