Swiss aircraft manufacturer strikes deal to build $40 million facility at SRQ airport
Swiss aircraft manufacturer Pilatus announced a deal with the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport to build $40 million in new facilities on airport property.
The Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority signed a lease with Pilatus Business Aircraft LTD. to begin construction of a customer sales and service facility. Pilatus leaders say the deal is expected to drive economic growth in Manatee and Sarasota counties.
The airport’s board of directors unanimously approved the project, which involves Pilatus leasing 17 acres of land for 40 years and creating at least 350 jobs with starting salaries of around $80,000.
Pilatus manufactures the PC-12 single-engine turboprop and PC-24 business jet.
The project also includes Pilatus investing $40 million between two phases.
The first phase is scheduled for completion in two years. It includes 61,000 square feet of aircraft sales and maintenance facilities. The second phase involves an aircraft assembly building with up to 300 full-time employees.
Swiss aircraft manufacturer partners with SRQ
Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority president and CEO Rick Piccolo said the deal takes SRQ to the next level, but the economic development from the deal is more important.
“It’s the jobs and the fact that it’s now going to meld with these schools we have on the airport,” Piccolo said. “So kids can go to school here and then walk basically across the taxiway and go work for a great company at a very high salary in a very skilled position.”
According to company history, Pilatus has an independent subsidiary in Broomfield, Colorado. The Centennial State was one of the places they looked for an aircraft production facility in the United States.
Texas and North Carolina also were candidates before Florida was settled and the Sarasota/Bradenton area won out.
“It was the availability of the large parcels so we could do phase one, phase two together in a prime location,” Pilatus Business Aircraft LTD CEO Thomas Bosshard said. “For us, visibility is important. That was definitely a driver for the geographic location.”
SRQ is also in talks to bring Elixir Aircraft, a French company that started in 2015, to the area. Elixir makes small, sport single-seat aircraft and is going through the Federal Aviation Administration’s certification process, Piccolo said.
This story was originally published August 26, 2024 at 2:39 PM.
