Irish air firm to set up Welsh operation

A consortium led by the Irish company, Omega Air, controlled by brothers, Mr Ulick and Mr Desmond McEvaddy, is to set up an aircraft refurbishment operation in Wales, creating 500 jobs.

The consortium is establishing the operation on the grounds of a British Royal Navy armament depot in Pembrokeshire, which has been closed since 1995.

The British Ministry of Defence yesterday refused to disclose how much the site cost, but one source said the sum involved was "several millions".

The consortium successfully tendered for the site, called Trecwn, against several British companies. Building is expected to begin some time next year, according to the Ministry of Defence.

The consortium is made up of Omega Air and the British finance house, WR Trust. The operating company for the project is Omega Pacific, and the jobs will be created gradually over the next five years.

It is understood the majority of the finance for the operation has been put up by the McEvaddy brothers, through Omega Air.

The company will use the site to refurbish its own fleet of Boeing 707s and hopes to attract business from carriers around the world.

The company's main business comes from leasing and selling Boeing 707s to carriers, mainly based in Africa and the Middle East. The 707s date from the 1950s and the 1960s and are no longer in general use in Europe or the United States. The US army occasionally buys the aircraft for spare parts.

No representative of Omega Air was available for comment yesterday, but one source said the development in Wales was "a major breakthrough for the company".

It is not expected that any Irish-owned airline will use the Omega service. Aer Lingus, for example, uses TEAM Aer Lingus to do all its refurbishing.

Mr Desmond and Mr Ulick McEvaddy have been involved in the aviation industry since the late 1970s and have been associated in recent times with the attempts to build a private terminal at Dublin airport. The brothers were also involved in the development of the £14 million Malahide Marina project and have interests in Capital Radio Productions, the company which owns the Dublin local radio station, FM 104.