Caerdav Begins Work on New Composites and Paint Workshop at St Athan, Due to Open Early 2027

Welsh aircraft maintenance specialist Caerdav has begun work on a new composites and paint workshop at its St Athan base in South Wales. The facility is expected to open in early 2027 and to create additional employment opportunities in the local area.

The project involves the refurbishment of Hangar 64, an unused building next to the company's Twin Peaks hangars. The work adds a new mezzanine office level and 4,300 sq ft of additional workshop space, including dedicated sanding and clean rooms and a large paint spray booth. The booth is designed to take either one larger job or two smaller projects.

The workshop will bring together a dedicated team of composite technicians, mechanics and trainees, offering specialist repairs covering fibreglass, carbon fibre and metal-to-metal bonded structures. The expanded paint facilities will also support the refinishing of smaller aircraft components. Caerdav says the added capability will support aircraft already in maintenance at St Athan as well as projects for external customers seeking specialist repair and paint services.

Alan Steer, Caerdav's Base Maintenance Manager, said: "We're excited to get this project off the ground as it's another indication of how the business is moving forwards. The additional workshop capacity will allow us to deliver a wider range of services to customers with aircraft in the hangars and also third parties looking for support." The project is part of Caerdav's long-term growth strategy, which the company says will help customers reduce costs, minimise aircraft downtime and extend the service life of components.

Caerdav expects to recruit additional staff for the new facility and says engineers, technicians and mechanics from other industries could transfer their skills into aviation. Steer said the company is looking for people with the right aptitude and mindset rather than restricting recruitment to candidates with prior aviation experience.

The workshop follows the opening of a fourth maintenance line at St Athan at the beginning of 2026.

Composite repair and paint sit among the specialist tasks that a base maintenance operation often has to hand off when it lacks the space or the trained people. Building a dedicated sanding room, clean room and spray booth next to existing hangars is a way of keeping that work on one site, which is the same logic Caerdav itself cites when it talks about cutting downtime and cost for customers.

For the maintenance segment, the pattern is capacity added in steps: a fourth line at the start of 2026, then a purpose-built workshop for 2027. A booth that can take one large job or two smaller ones also lets a base mix long paint projects with quick component refinishing, which matters for how evenly the facility can be loaded.

The dated milestone is the early 2027 opening, and the practical test is how quickly the dedicated team of composite technicians, mechanics and trainees is recruited, given Caerdav's stated plan to draw on people from other industries.