Ground service equipment specialist Mallaghan Engineering has unveiled the ‘Mallaghan 50W’ – the largest-capacity airport bus in the world, capable of carrying up to 125 passengers.
Budget airline Ryanair has ordered a 32-strong fleet, to be delivered in the next 12 months, with the keys to the first vehicle handed over recently at the inter airport Europe trade show in Munich.
Mallaghan Engineering is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of ground service equipment, employing more than 450 staff at its manufacturing sites in Dungannon, Northern Ireland, and Georgia, Atlanta, and at five other global offices. The Ryanair contract will create a further 60 jobs.
Ronan Mallaghan, managing director at Mallaghan Engineering, said, “Traditionally, our product portfolio has focused on passenger stairs and a range of high-lift trucks for catering, cabin cleaning and more specialist ground-support equipment including water trucks, toilet trucks and de-icers.
“But to meet customer demands, we’ve developed and begun manufacturing the Mallaghan 50W airport bus, which broadens our range and heralds a new dawn for the Mallaghan team.”
Used for transporting passengers to and from terminals and aircraft, the Mallaghan 50W will offer a range of features that can be tailored to customer specifications. It is also the only airport bus in the world with rear-wheel steering, thereby reducing the turning circle.
Ryanair is a long-standing customer of Mallaghan Engineering and has utilized its ground-support equipment at bases across Europe for the last two decades.