Ascent Aviation Services (“Ascent”) debuted two new 90,000-square-foot wide-body maintenance hangars at its Pinal Air Park (MZJ) facility in Marana, Arizona.

The $70 million investment will enhance the facility in Marana and increase its hangar capacity by 200%, enabling the company to undertake more extensive heavy maintenance. Additionally, it will pave the way to support the ongoing commercial relationship with Israel Aerospace Industries and with their B777-300ER passenger-to-freighter conversion program.

The B777-300ER Cargo Conversion Program is positioned to replace aging wide-body freighters and provide much needed cargo capacity for the E-Commerce global freight boom. The demand for cargo uplift is expected to increase by 4-5% yearly in the next 5 years. By being the only non-OEM MRO conversion facility in North America capable of performing B777-300ER modifications, Ascent is uniquely positioned to support the growing demand for cargo uplift.

The new facility will create over 300 high-paying jobs. The company opened another hangar in Marana in 2015 (photo).