Causeway Aero has opened a 7,000ft² composites production facility in Sligo, Republic of Ireland, and is currently in the advanced stages of receiving EASA Part-21G approval from the Irish Aviation Authority.
The Sligo facility is a two-hour drive from the company’s headquarters in Lisburn, Northern Ireland (and a similar distance from the aircraft leasing community in Dublin and the MRO cluster in Shannon). As the Lisburn facility is now outside EASA and approved by the UK Civil Aviation Authority, it means that Causeway will be able to deliver against alternative approvals and Form 1.
Michael Rice, CEO of Causeway Aero, stated that the investment in Sligo includes new machinery, as the facility will specialise in heavy industrial processes such as routing, edging and decoring of composites. The Lisburn facility undertakes lighter work such as the manufacture and assembly of Pitch PF3000 economy class seats and of aircraft interior components.
Part of the new facility has been taken over by Inter-Tec Aero, a recently established subsidiary of Inter-Tec Group, a long-term partner of Causeway that has used its EASA Part-21J Design Organisation Approval to assist with a number of interior and seat projects. Inter-Tec is also the EASA ETSA holder for the Pitch PF3000 seat.
Fred Gorrie, owner of Inter-Tec Aero Group, says his company, based in Prestwick, Scotland, also faced the EASA/CAA challenge: “Effectively transferring our EASA approvals to the new base in Sligo is a neat solution. In addition to it reinforcing our close relationship with Causeway, it re-establishes Inter-Tec’s position to ably serve our highly-valued global customer base as a truly European Design Organisation.”