Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services (LBAS) is building a new Learjet hangar at Berlin Schoenefeld Airport, a move that reflects the Canadian manufacturer’s determination to support the large fleet operational in Europe.

Due to be completed in June, the new LBAS hangar will add more than 21,000 sq ft of maintenance space, nearly doubling the existing Learjet provision, Bombardier Business Aircraft vice president customer support David Orcutt said here yesterday. In February the facility completed the first European installation of a Rockwell Collins Tailwind 500 live tv system in a Bombardier Global Express.

The OEM has 295 business jets in service in Europe, and backs them up with seven field service representatives, plus two more to come this year, and nine authorized service facilities. Its new “super warehouse” in Frankfurt, which has been operational since last September, provides spare parts backup, shipping 200 items daily with an average counter-to-counter time in Europe of just 12 hours.

Bombardier Business Aircraft vice president James Hoblyn said the division had more than $4 billion in revenues last year, when it delivered 188 aircraft. In the first quarter of 2006 it delivered another 56, giving it a 32 percent market share of the non-VLJ market and a further $1.3 billion in revenues.

The firm has two new jets in flight test, both launched at last November’s NBAA Convention, both equipped with Rockwell Collins ProLine 21 flight decks and each with what Bob Horner, vice president sales Europe Middle East and Africa, described as “a newly designed cabin for maximum comfort and productivity.”

The Challenger 605 flew for the first time on January 21, reaching 41,000 feet and Mach 0.85 on its maiden flight.