Monday, December 22, 2025
Air New Zealand opens pioneering Hangar 4 at Auckland Airport, the world’s first mass timber aircraft maintenance hangar and the largest timber arch in the Southern Hemisphere. XLAM, a leading subsidiary of James Jones & Sons Ltd, served as a critical partner in the project’s realisation. By delivering a record-breaking hybrid structure of Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) and Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL), the team has proven that timber can meet and exceed the structural demands of heavy-duty aviation maintenance.
The technical specifications of Hangar 4 are staggering. The facility covers approximately 10,000 square meters of hangar space—large enough to house a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and two Airbus A320/A321 aircraft simultaneously. The success of the project rested on a Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) approach. This methodology moved the majority of the labour-intensive construction into a controlled factory environment at XLAM’s Auckland facility, ensuring millimetric precision.
Keith Knox, General Manager of XLAM, explained the importance of this strategy:
“The DfMA approach enabled us to adopt a highly structured, early-manufacture and pre-assembly process. This was essential to meet the numerous programme constraints—both onsite and across the wider supply chain and logistics.”
To validate the complex geometry before full production, the team built a full-scale prototype purlin section. This physical “proof of concept” allowed structural engineers from Dunning Thornton and the wider project team to witness the scale and precision firsthand, mitigating risks before the massive 38-tonne trusses were lifted into place.
Operating in a high-seismic and coastal environment like Auckland presents unique engineering challenges. Traditional steel structures require significant maintenance to combat salt-air corrosion. In contrast, engineered timber is naturally inert to corrosion.
Furthermore, the timber arch is designed to be seismic-resilient. Unlike rigid steel or concrete, the mass timber trusses are engineered to flex. The structure can “wobble” and move up to 300mm during an earthquake, absorbing energy rather than resisting it. This makes Hangar 4 one of the safest and most durable industrial buildings in the region.
Air New Zealand Hangar 4 is the first aircraft hangar in the Asia-Pacific region to earn a 6-Star Green Star rating from the New Zealand Green Building Council. The choice of timber played a pivotal role in this certification:
Tom Bruce-Jones, Chairman of the James Jones & Sons Group, praised the collaborative spirit of the project:
“The structure stands as a testament to innovative, creative thinking and exemplifies the versatility of wood as a construction material. By embracing timber as a core material, we are not only delivering architectural excellence but championing sustainable construction practices.”
The project serves as a “world-leading example of innovation,” as described by Kulwinder Panesar, Senior Project Manager at Air New Zealand, proving that timber is no longer just for residential builds—it is a viable solution for the world’s most massive infrastructure.
As Hangar 4 becomes fully operational, it signals a new chapter for Air New Zealand’s engineering and maintenance teams. Designed to serve the airline for the next 50 years, the hangar is future-proofed for next-generation aircraft and sets a new global standard for the timber industry.
James Jones & Sons Ltd and its subsidiary XLAM have once again demonstrated that when precision engineering meets sustainable forestry, the sky—or in this case, a 35-meter-high timber apex—is the limit.
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Tags: Air New Zealand Hangar 4, Auckland Airport, CLT construction, DfMA timber, James Jones & Sons Ltd, mass timber hangar, Southern Hemisphere largest timber arch, sustainable aviation infrastructure, XLam
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