Duncan Aviation has broken ground on a new business aircraft maintenance, modifications and paint complex at its Provo, Utah location. To be built on a 45-acre tract at Provo Municipal Airport, the facility will span close to 275,000 sq ft, including a 222,000-sq-ft maintenance and modifications center and a 53,000-sq-ft paint facility.

The new complex will accommodate some of the largest business aircraft, and includes large hangar spaces, along with backshop and office space. The paint structure will have the latest downdraft airflow technology, with automatic monitoring and alarms, and will be able to accommodate multiple aircraft at once using a two-zone airflow system. With this design, Duncan Aviation paint teams can perform stripping, sanding, painting and detail work on multiple aircraft simultaneously.

“We consistently hear from operators in the western U.S. that they would like to see more investment in a Duncan Aviation location closer to their home base,” said Duncan president and CEO Aaron Hilkemann. “The Provo area is the perfect complement to our other full-service facilities in Battle Creek, Michigan, and Lincoln, Nebraska. That is why we initially started our Provo facility. The plan has always been to expand that original footprint and build a new facility from the ground up.”

The $70 million project, led by Tectonic Management Group, is slated for completion by the end of 2019. “We have started installing Geopiers, which are deep stabilization piers, and will soon begin pouring footings and foundations,” said Bill Prochazka, COO at Duncan Aviation’s Provo location. “If the early winter weather cooperates with those two items, we could be putting up steel this winter.”

Duncan Aviation began operations in Provo in 2010 and since has provided major and minor hourly and calendar inspections, line-level engine and avionics support and interior work for business aircraft from across Europe, the Pacific Rim and the Americas. Recently, the facility added non-destructive testing capabilities to its repair certificate.