Flying High
Over 7 percent of Bombardier Aerospace’s European customers are just an hour’s flight from its new European Service Centre. This fact alone explains why the aircraft company chose Amsterdam Airport Schiphol as the base for its European service hub.
In two years’ time, Bombadier plans to move to a new purpose-built building next to the general aviation terminal at Schiphol-East. This reflects the increase in demand for jet aircraft for business or private use in Europe, which made a service centre here a necessity. Obviously, choosing the right location was crucial.
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“We started out with no less than 40 potential sites,” says General Manager Jacques Comtois. A list of 15 criteria was drawn up to choose between them. Everything from fiscal factors to local know-how was considered. Language was important, as was support for the company values by the local culture.
Eventually, two locations were shortlisted: a site near to a London airport, and a site at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. “The deciding factor was that we could not get any closer to our clients than Schiphol, as well as a sense that we would have more freedom to really be ourselves here,” says Comtois.
Fast Progress
Less than a year after settling on a location, Bombardier Aerospace will soon begin its first round of maintenance orders at the temporary site. Training programmes for aircraft mechanics have already started.
“Everything has proceeded faster than anticipated,” says Comtois of the new centre. He attributes this partly to the support of airport management company Schiphol Group, the Schiphol Area Development Company (SADC), local government and the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency.
Ready for take-off
“It has really taken off,” he explains. “We already have 35 employees. We should have 50 by the end of the year.” The workers reflect the varied local population: “This is truly an international group. We have a Portuguese national who speaks fluent Russian. This is very useful, since we are seeing more and more Russian-speaking customers.”
The company has made a promising start, but this is just the beginning, says Comtois. “Once we occupy our new building, we believe that we will have work for 150 employees or more. Bombardier is here to stay.”
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