Thai Airways International Builds Largest Aircraft Maintenance Center in Southeast Asia

Thai Airways International has invested in building one of the region’s largest Aircraft Maintenance Centers which can accommodate up to three A380 aircraft, at the new Suvarnabhumi Airport, scheduled to open September 2005.

Mr. Kobchai Srivilas, THAI’s Senior Executive Vice President, Corporate Planning and Information Technology Services Dept., said that one of the special features for the Aircraft Maintenance Center, which is in the building process at the Suvarnabhumi Airport, is the large roof framework with the width of 270 metres of the building and requires only two poles for support.

The process of lifting the 9,500 tons roof to approximately 30 metres high is considered very challenging. The building will be the first in the world to use this high technology design and equipment. The roof lifting process will be divided into three main parts, the first and second part weighing approximately 3,500 tons and the third part weighing 2,500 tons. The main equipment for lifting the roof framework includes 9 sets of lifting towers used towards installing the lifting equipment with an hydraulic system, including computerized control system. Once the roof framework is lifted to a specified height, the lifting towers and equipment will be removed and used to support the lifting of the second and third parts of the roof.

THAI’s Aircraft Maintenance Center at the Suvarnabhumi Airport will be 24,300 square meters in size, which is one of the largest in the Southeast Asia region. This will increase THAI’s capability to serve the company’s aircraft as well as its customer airlines.

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