Pratt Breaks New Ground in Singapore

Pratt & Whitney broke ground on a new engine-part production plant at the Seletar Aerospace Park in Singapore on Thursday. Plans call for the new 180,000-sq-ft facility to produce fan blades and high-pressure turbine disks for Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower Geared Turbofan engines, chosen to power the Airbus A320neo, Mitsubishi MRJ, Bombardier CSeries, Irkut MS-21 and Embraer’s next generation of E-Jets.

Pratt & Whitney expects to complete construction of its Singapore manufacturing facility some time next year, in time to begin production of fan blades in 2015 and high-pressure turbine disks by 2016.

The site borders Pratt & Whitney’s flagship 160,000-sq-ft Singapore Component Repair, where preparations have begun for occupancy during the first quarter and initial production by the end of the year. That facility will perform PW4000-engine part repair and house various office support departments including Global Services Engineering-Asia. The company has so far invested nearly $110 million in the development of the facilities.

The company’s expansion plans for the next five years call for the addition of more than 2,500 employees in Singapore, making it the company’s “most comprehensive” aftermarket location.