Thales has signed a five-year agreement to continue providing flight inspection services from Teesside International Airport (MME).
The new lease will see the company remain at the site until at least 2030 and includes planned upgrades to its dedicated hangar facilities.
The company, which has been operating from Teesside since 1996, plays a key role in ensuring the safety and compliance of air navigation systems used by both military and civil aviation. It provides services to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and a growing number of civil airfields, supporting flight safety across a wide range of operating environments.
Under the agreement, Thales will maintain its base within a 7,500-square-foot hangar, which houses both aircraft and office space. Planned improvements to the hangar form part of the lease extension, supporting the company’s operational capacity.
John Hogan, Manager of Thales Flight Inspection Service said:Military and Civil aircraft rely on us to ensure the safety of their airports. We look after every single airport for the MoD worldwide, and we’ve got our ever-growing civil customers. We’re fully anticipating growing the business and that will ultimately lead to more staff and assets.
Thales’ services include the testing of Instrument Landing Systems (ILS), Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), VHF Omnidirectional Range (VOR) systems, and a range of military-specific technologies such as TACAN and Precision Approach Radar. It also inspects Primary and Secondary radar systems and contributes to air defence radar evaluations.
Flight inspection missions are carried out by experienced pilots and engineers using specialist systems to verify that navigational aids and radar installations meet regulatory standards set by bodies including the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
VictoriaThales has been an incredibly loyal and a long-standing partner to Teesside Airport.
We’re proud to have a firm which has helped keep our armed forces safe, secure and finely tuned for almost three decades at our airport – and we’re very pleased to secure their time here until 2030 at the earliest.
Thales, previously known as Flight Precision Ltd, was briefly based in Bournemouth between 2014 and 2016 under former ownership, but returned to Teesside following its acquisition by Thales Group.
