Story ID: 
The Signature opens London Luton base
By: Charles Alcock
Caption: Signature Flight Support expects to open its new 74,000-sq-ft hangar at London Luton Airport this month.
Word Count: 235
Signature Flight Support expects to open its new 74,000-sq-ft hangar at London Luton Airport this month. Alongside the new facility is a 10,000-sq-ft office unit, and about half of this space has been rented to based corporate operators to date. A further 5,000 sq ft of accommodation is also being built for completion by the end of July, and this will be available for stores or more offices.When Signature first applied to build the new hangar, it had intended to offer more than 120,000 sq ft of hangar space at Luton. However, early last month its parent company, BBA Aviation, sold the Signature Aircraft Engineering maintenance operation and its 50,000-sq-ft hangar to Gulfstream Aerospace.Signature Flight Support will continue to run its handling operation from its existing building just across the ramp from the new hangar. This facility, which connects directly to the Signature Aircraft Engineering hangar, includes passenger and crew lounges. According to Trevor King, the manager of Signature Flight Support’s Luton operation, the overall number of movements now being handled is up by around 10 percent from the same period last year. However, recent months have seen some decline in the number of long-haul flights received, especially from regions such as the Middle East.Signature also has FBOs at Paris Le Bourget Airport and South-ampton Airport in the UK. It is now preparing to build a new executive terminal at Toulon in southern France.