Pilatus Aircraft Breaks Ground on 18-acre Florida Site for MRO/Sales Center | Aviation International News

Pilatus Aircraft Breaks Ground on 18-acre Florida Site

Sarasota complex will also eventually house a 110,000-sq-ft aircraft manufacturing plant

Pilatus ground breaking in Sarasota — Pilatus Aircraft executives, along with airport and local officials, broke ground Jan. 23, 2026, on the company’s 70,000-sq-ft sales, service, and delivery facility at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (KSRQ), set to open in late 2027. A follow-on project will add an adjacent 110,000-sq-ft PC-12 and PC-24 production plant, and a potential phase 3 plan could add an aircraft paint facility and training center. © Chad Trautvetter/AIN

By Chad Trautvetter • Online Editor

January 23, 2026

Pilatus Aircraft executives, along with airport and local officials, broke ground on January 23 on the company's 70,000-sq-ft sales and service facility at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (KSRQ), with opening set for fourth-quarter 2027. The $50 million project is the first of two, and possibly three, construction phases for the OEM at KSRQ, which will see a 110,000-sq-ft adjacent PC-12 production plant added by the end of this decade. Its total investment at KSRQ will be about $200 million.

Pilatus holds an 18-acre leasehold on the north side of the airfield for the first two construction phases, and has an option for an adjacent lot that could be used to add an aircraft paint facility and training center under a proposed phase 3 project. The MRO and sales facility—Pilatus’ fourth factory-owned service center in the U.S.—will have 40,000 sq ft of shop floor space, with the remainder holding shops, back office space, aircraft design room, and delivery center.

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