Flying Colours $30M expansion to begin in fall at airport, adding 60 new jobs

Construction is expected to start this fall on a new $30-million expansion of Flying Colours Corp. at Peterborough Airport, said airport manager Trent Gervais.

The expansion is expected to mean 60 new jobs (in addition to 250 current jobs).

The company is expected to build a new manufacturing and operations hangar at the city-owned airport, which is located in Cavan Monaghan Township just southwest of the city limits.

Gervais said the expansion will bring the building to 100,000 square feet; he said that will make it roughly the same size as the local Home Depot.

Flying Colours also has operations in the U.S. and Singapore. The company refurbishes, modernizes and updates midsized to large business aircraft, including Gulfstream, Beechcraft/Hawker, Dassault Falcon and Bombardier’s Global Express and Challenger planes.

Flying Colours is also an authorized service facility for Bombardier and GE Aviation.

Gervais said the company plans to have their expanded operations up and running by June 2019 – and that’s why construction is beginning soon.

Earlier this month, a city staff report stated that the water reservoir used for fire suppression at the Peterborough Airport may be expanded soon to nearly double its capacity, all to accommodate a large new development at the airport.

The reservoir needs a capacity of 1 million litres of water – up from the current capacity of 530,000 litres – to meet the needs of the proposed new development.

It’s necessary to have this greater capacity by July 2019, states the report.

Although the report doesn’t mention what type of development is planned, Gervais said that the main part of it is Flying Colours (with other, smaller developments too).

Gervais is the president and CEO of Loomex, the company that is contracted by the city to run the Peterborough Airport.

Loomex is growing along with the airport’s expansion over the last few years, he said.

To keep up with the growth, Loomex announced this week it has a newly created general manager position.

That new general manager will be Matt Braithwaite, Loomex announced.

Braithwaite comes to Loomex from Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development, where was an economic development officer there.