De Havilland announces site of new Alberta aircraft manufacturing facility

Aircraft maker De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. has announced that the site of its new manufacturing facility will be in Wheatland County, Alberta, approximately 30 minutes east of Calgary.

This new facility will be called De Havilland Field and will consist of a new aircraft assembly facility, runway, parts manufacturing and distribution centres and maintenance repair and overhaul centre. In addition, educational space for training the workforce of the future is planned as well as general office buildings and a De Havilland Canada aircraft museum.

These operations plan to complement their current parts manufacturing facilities in Victoria, British Columbia as well as their new engineering and customer support centre of excellence in Toronto, Ontario.

De Havilland Field will be the site of final assembly for the DHC-515 Firefighter aircraft which was launched earlier this year, the DHC-6 Twin Otter as well as the Dash 8-400 aircraft.

The location of the De Havilland Field was chosen in part because of its proximity to a young and diverse labour pool in Alberta, the cost of living, and an international airport that can reportedly support efficient parts distribution to their global customer base. De Havilland anticipates that once in full operation, there will be up to 1500 jobs located at De Havilland Field.

The development of De Havilland Field is subject to an amendment to the Wheatland County Area Structure Plan as well as re-zoning by the County.

“De Havilland Field will be the home of assembly and production of reliable and rugged Canadian aircraft that serve missions around the world,” Brian Chafe, CEO of De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. “This is the start of a new chapter for both De Havilland Canada and Canadian aerospace and we are excited about beginning the process with Wheatland County to provide new aviation opportunities for Canada and Alberta.”