Pilatus opens $123 million composite manufacturing center in Switzerland

Swiss aircraft manufacturer Pilatus has opened a new composite manufacturing facility, named Schwarzhorn, in the canton of Nidwalden, at a cost of roughly CHF 100 million ($123 million). The building brings together the company's composite development and production activities in a single location for the first time and provides workspace for around 300 staff.

According to Pilatus, the investment is the largest it has made in a single facility to date. The company has worked with fiber-reinforced composite materials for more than four decades, historically restricting their use to non-structural components such as cowlings and covers. That approach shifted with the introduction of the PC-24 twinjet, which incorporates composites in primary, load-bearing structures including control surfaces. Pilatus said the use of lighter composite materials helps cut aircraft weight and fuel burn, and that it intends to expand their application in future designs.

The new facility covers the entire production sequence, from receipt and storage of raw materials through component manufacturing, subassembly and surface finishing, before component kits are forwarded to final assembly. Pilatus said the site was built to allow for future automation and new inspection technologies, and that co-locating engineering and manufacturing teams should strengthen collaboration between the two functions.

The building also includes rooftop and facade photovoltaic panels, and uses waste heat from manufacturing along with groundwater for heating and cooling. Pilatus said it is pursuing LEED Platinum certification for the facility, which would be the company's first building to achieve that status.