Alliance Airlines $60M maintenance hangar to boost Rockhampton industry

Bigger than a football field, the new maintenance hangar at Rockhampton Airport is expected to support hundreds of jobs and inject millions into the region annually.

Almost three years to the date it was first presented to the public, the huge $60 million Alliance Airline maintenance hangar at Rockhampton Airport has formally been opened.

Alliance Airlines has 10 employees already, including an apprentice and another one starting shortly, and are on a recruitment drive to fill a further six positions and five apprentices.

“This is a great result for Rocky as the company plans to employ about 100 highly skilled operations workers including at least 16 trainees and apprentices when it is fully operational in 2024,” Rockhampton MP Barry O’Rourke said.

Rockhampton was picked for the Queensland location on a few factors, weather, being far enough from the coast with salt in the air, being one, and the airport being one of the few in Australia that is owned by council, a move made by former mayor Jim Webber in the 1980s.

Alliance Airlines new $60 million aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at Rockhampton Airport.

Alliance Airlines will service their fleet of 70 aircraft at the maintenance, repair and overhaul facility, instead of in Slovakia and the United Kingdom.

Approximately 100 skilled aviation jobs have returned from overseas to Australia and there are 16 new local traineeships and apprenticeships.

The local facility also has knock-on effects for suppliers throughout Queensland from avionics, aerospace technologies, wheels, tyres, brakes and landing gear, engine maintenance, interiors and upholstery and cabin accessories.

Photos from the formal celebrations inside the hangar on November 1, 2023.

The development was submitted to council in January 2021 and throughout the two-year construction, it supported 115 construction jobs.

Rockhampton Regional Council Mayor Tony William said locals now had the opportunity to train and work in the aviation maintenance industry and to see the benefit of those jobs.

Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick, Senator Anthony Chisholm, Scott McMillan, and Rockhampton Regional Council Mayor Tony Williams unveil the plaque about the opening of Alliance Airlines new $60 million aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at Rockhampton Airport.

Alliance Airlines Managing Director Scott McMillan affirmed the company is in Central Queensland for the long haul.

“Alliance Airlines sees Rockhampton as a key hub for our operations, and this facility solidifies our long-term commitment to the region,” Mr McMillan said.

“We are absolutely confident that this significant investment in aviation will attract other industry participants to invest here in Rockhampton.”

The new Rockhampton facility is forecast to inject $30 million into the Rockhampton region’s economy each year and boost the Queensland economy by $195 million over the next 10 years.

The whopping 10,000 sqm facility can be spotted from high points throughout town, coming in at 130 metres wide, 16 high and 65 metres deep – larger than a football field.

It is a state-of-the-art energy efficient building with a 200kw solar array and storage on site with 500kl water tanks, saving approximately 1.5 million litres of fuel burn over annum.

Rockhampton region mayor and councillors with students at the Alliance Airlines maintenance facility opening.

The project was funded from a $21 million Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility loan, announced in September 2021, $25 from the Federal Government, announced in May 2021, $2 million from Rockhampton Regional Council and support from the Queensland Government for the construction.

Treasurer Cameron Dick said the project provides aviation jobs, skills and development on home soil.

“Facilities such as these are a catalyst for further regional development by attracting specialty high value freight and logistics suppliers and a range of aeronautical support companies to the region,” he said.

Capricornia MP Michelle Landry said it was a key piece of infrastructure that would help solidify Rockhampton’s economy, while also attracting millions of dollars of investment into our region.