Porter Airlines officially opened its new aircraft hangars and maintenance base at the Ottawa International Airport. The two hangars comprise approximately 150,000 ft2 and can house eight aircraft, along with offices, general records storage, parts storage, engine shop, avionics, paint shop, wheel shop, and employee facilities.
The two massive aircraft hangars are part of a series of projects to revitalize Ottawa Airport to accommodate increased air travel demand in the National Capital Region. The hangars represent an important partnership for the city to grow and provide more flight options. Porter’s expansion in Ottawa includes 16 new non-stop routes, with about two million passengers expected through the airport in 2024. By year’s end, Porter aims to employ more than 400 staff in Ottawa.
The project was designed by Scott Associates Architects, with construction management by PCL and Span Construction & Engineering. HH Angus provided mechanical and electrical consulting engineering, as well as ICAT consulting and security design.
Completed in two phases - the first in late 2023, and the second in 2024 Q1 - the hangar will serve as a primary maintenance base, with 200 local hires, including 160 aircraft maintenance engineers, shop technicians and administrative support staff.
Sustainability is increasingly important in aviation facilities. One of the project’s key design criteria was to exceed current energy efficiency standards, in line with the airport’s commitment to net-zero operations by 2040 or sooner. Some of the hangars’ important sustainability features include:
- A predominantly electric fleet of vehicles for towing and servicing aircraft, as well as ground support
- Constructed with approximately 35% recycled steel that can be recycled at the facility’s end of life
- Constructed from materials with 28% lower embodied carbon than conventional tilt-up assemblies
- City fire hydrant system is fully supplemented by an onsite underground water storage tank capturing approximately 1.2 million litres of excess rain/stormwater to avoid overstressing existing city mains.
HH Angus is currently working on Porter’s new airport terminal building in Saint-Hubert/Montréal, a net-zero facility with all building systems to fully operate on electric power. We also provided engineering services for the L.F. Wade International Airport in Bermuda, and were involved with the revitalization of the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport completed in 2011, as well as its further expansion in 2014.