News

Engineering company Mallaghan is soaring with a £700,000 investment to supply the new Airbus aircraft with catering trucks.

Mallaghan Engineering, based in Dungannon designs and manufactures a wide range of ground support equipment for the aviation industry, including passenger stairs, baggage handling systems and medical access lifts. Invest NI has offered over £200,000 of R&D support towards the development of the new catering truck.

Their investment along with that from Invest NI has helped then manufacture a catering truck designed specifically to accommodate the huge size of the new catering truck.

Technologically advanced and designed specifically to accommodate the huge size of the A380, the truck can elevate over three metres higher than a truck which caters for a standard jumbo jet. The truck was in operation at Heathrow Airport after the Airbus A380 completed its first commercial flight to the UK on March 18.

Mallaghan has orders for more in the UK and from other countries where the massive new plane will be operating - several of them in the Middle East.

Ronan Mallaghan, Managing Director of Mallaghan Engineering said: " The Airbus A380 heralds a new era in civil aviation and requires a new standard in ground support equipment which can hope with the challenges presented by the aircraft's enormous dimensions."

"Our new A380 catering truck addresses these challenges and represents a significant technological step forward for the company. The truck is the result of the dedicated efforts of our workforce and embodies their high skill levels, as well as the emphasis we place on innovation.

Mr Mallaghan added: "The number of A380 aircraft in operation is set to rise dramatically in the next few years and feedback from our early clients have been overwhelmingly positive. This, coupled with our focus new foreign markets and innovative manufacturing processes, puts us in a strong position to compete globally as the demand for A380 ground support equipment grows".

Tracy Meharg, Invest NI's Managing Director of Innovation and Capability Development, said: "The aviation industry is currently expecting a global upturn and this is presenting lucrative export business opportunities all the time. Mallaghan Engineering has recognised this and has astutely anticipated the need for a specialist catering truck for the Airbus A380.

"The truck is an excellent example of how an ambitious local company can, through innovation and a high standard of technological capability, accelerate its growth on year on year in challenging international markets."

Invest NI provided research and development funding for this project through its COMPETE programme, which is part funded by the European Competitiveness Programme 2007-2013 under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

Source: Tyrone Courier
Date: Wednesday, 19 March 2008