$670-million jet-building plant opens its doors at Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario
Published January 24, 2024 at 5:05 pm
Several of the world’s fastest and most luxurious private jets are starting to roll off the production line in Mississauga at Bombardier’s massive new $670-million aircraft manufacturing plant at Pearson Airport.
While the official inauguration of the 770,000-sq.-ft. “state-of-the-art” Global Manufacturing Centre has yet to take place, top brass at Montreal-based Bombardier gave an early tour of the plant to Ontario Premier Doug Ford and other dignitaries this week.
Among those to get a first look inside the plant, where the various Global-brand jets the firm makes for a variety of clients around the world will be built, was Mississauga acting mayor John Kovac.
“Grateful for Bombardier’s investment, bringing more innovation and 2,000 skilled jobs to our city, Canada’s largest aerospace cluster,” Kovac said in a post to social media.
Ford described the new plant as “the most advanced business jet production facility in the world.”
A look inside Bombardier’s huge Global Manufacturing Centre at Pearson Airport in Mississauga. (Photo: Bombardier)
The business jet-manufacturing plant is the largest standalone structure to be built at Pearson in the last 20 years, airport officials have said.
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Bombardier officials said earlier that the company began moving its jet-building facility to Pearson from Downsview last fall.
Once the plant is fully operational, some of the world’s fastest and most popular private jets will begin rolling off the line in greater numbers, including the Global 8000 set to begin production in 2025.
The new Global Manufacturing Centre will replace the final assembly plant that had been located in Downsview.
That facility was built in the 1960s and most recently housed some 2,000 workers. All of those employees will be brought along to the new Pearson plant, which company officials said earlier will also significantly reduce Bombardier’s industrial and environmental footprint in the area.
A number of new workers will also be hired once the plant is up and running in Mississauga.
Rendering of the completed plant at Pearson Airport. (Image: Bombardier)
Bombardier president and CEO Éric Martel, who led this week’s private tour of the plant, said earlier that the transition will be a gradual process in order to keep production lines moving seamlessly.
Environmentally-responsible features of the new manufacturing centre will reduce energy consumption by nearly 60 per cent and lower greenhouse gas emissions by more than half, according to Bombardier.
“We are extremely proud of the people who have been producing our best-in-class business jets for decades here in Ontario, and with the rising demand for large-cabin long-range aircraft, we are looking forward to providing our teams with a new, state-of-the-art work environment,” Martel said earlier, adding the huge new plant also signals Bombardier’s long-term commitment to building jets in Mississauga.
Bombardier makes both Challenger and Global aircraft, renowned for their “cutting-edge innovation, cabin design, performance and reliability,” company officials say, adding Bombardier has a worldwide fleet of some 5,000 aircraft in service.
The Global 8000 will be the fastest jet in the world when it rolls off production lines starting in 2025. (Photo: Bombardier)
City of Mississauga officials have said that the new plant will strengthen the city’s “world-class aviation sector by continuing its relationship with Mississauga-based companies that provide leading-edge capabilities to support Bombardier’s family of Global business jets.”
The Global Manufacturing Centre is also expected to help rebuild the Airport Employment Zone, which pre-COVID was home to the second-largest concentration of jobs in Canada, according to the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which runs Pearson.
When the plant fully opens, it will be home to the most advanced aircraft manufacturing processes in the world, says Bombardier, which with more than 68,000 employees is a global leader in the transportation industry.
The firm, with facilities in 28 countries, also builds trains.
Bombardier’s Global 7500 business jet will be among the private planes built at Pearson Airport. (Photo: VistaJet)