WestJet plans 73,000 sq ft hangar for 42 Winnipeg aircraft

By Sophie Lindqvist

WestJet announced on Wednesday that it will build a 73,000-square-foot aircraft maintenance hangar at Winnipeg Richardson International Airport, with space for two aircraft and a targeted completion in late 2028. The Calgary-based airline says the facility at AirLink Business Park will support the basing of up to 42 narrow-body aircraft at YWG once operational.

The project makes WestJet the first intended anchor tenant in a new commercial development on the airport’s west lands. The hangar site spans more than nine acres, and its design includes room for the Boeing 737 MAX-10 alongside one other aircraft.

The MAX-10 reference defines the planned design envelope (the types of aircraft the facility must accommodate), rather than an aircraft order, delivery or certification event. The announcement provides no aircraft list, delivery schedule or commitment to assign all 42 narrow-bodies to Winnipeg.

Nick Hays, Winnipeg Air Terminal Authority (WAA) president and CEO, said: “Welcoming WestJet as our first intended anchor tenant is an important step towards creating jobs, strengthening Manitoba’s economy and diversifying Canada’s supply chains.” As an anchor tenant (a major occupant supporting development around it), WestJet gives WAA an initial customer for AirLink Business Park.

What does this change for WestJet?

For WestJet, the change is the potential to combine a larger Winnipeg operating base with on-site maintenance capacity. The company already employs 500 people in Winnipeg, and it expects the hangar to add 50 aircraft maintenance engineers; the project is also expected to support hundreds of new jobs.

The 42-aircraft figure concerns fleet basing at YWG, not the number that can fit inside the hangar. Room for two aircraft provides physical maintenance positions, while 42 aircraft require sufficient engineers, equipment, parts and operating schedules. The announcement does not say how many aircraft the site could service at once.

This distinction matters because infrastructure and fleet plans must arrive together. A new hangar could support more Winnipeg-based narrow-body operations if WestJet assigns aircraft, technicians and flying schedules to YWG, but the announcement identifies no routes or committed fleet.

Funding and development

In February, WAA received $10 million from the federal government and $5 million from the Manitoba provincial government to support its $17 million first-phase investment. Together, those contributions provide $15 million of support, while the announcement leaves WestJet’s construction cost, lease terms and ownership arrangements undisclosed.

At full build-out, AirLink Business Park is expected to support:

• Up to 2.5 million square feet of development
• 2,770 jobs
• $24.4 million in annual property taxes for Winnipeg

Those figures describe the entire commercial park, not the WestJet hangar alone. They should not be treated as WestJet-only commitments: the 50 roles are tied directly to the hangar, while 42 aircraft describes potential basing and 2,770 jobs describes the park at full build-out.

The property-tax estimate provides the clearest quantified public benefit beyond direct job creation. It remains conditional on full build-out, for which the announcement provides no separate completion date.

Delivery remains prospective

None of the stated hangar capacity is operating now. Completion is targeted for late 2028, and the 42-aircraft base, 50 hires and hundreds of jobs depend on construction, staffing and airline decisions. The announcement gives no construction start date, permit schedule, detailed ramp-up plan or WestJet fleet assignment.

The next test is whether construction and staffing produce an operating hangar by late 2028. The 42-aircraft basing plan and 50-engineer program will show whether the project delivers network scale rather than only maintenance space.