Wedoany.com Report on Feb 11th, Garmin has opened a new aviation facility at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (KIWA) in Arizona, which will be primarily used for aircraft certification and flight testing. This new aviation facility consists of two adjacent hangars with a total area of approximately 75,000 square feet and is expected to be operated by a staff of about 75 employees.

Garmin chose to establish its new aviation facility at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, partly due to the region's weather conditions favorable for flight testing. The airport's infrastructure includes three parallel runways, two of which exceed 10,000 feet in length, facilitating operations for the new facility. Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport is already home to customer support and service centers for manufacturers such as Embraer, Gulfstream, and Textron Aviation.

Phil Straub, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Aviation at Garmin, stated in a release: "We are excited to add another aviation facility to our operations. The capabilities this location will provide are essential for expanding the airworthiness approvals and market reach of our product line. This expansion represents Garmin's continued investment in infrastructure to support the growth and innovation of our aviation business segment."

The history of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport dates back to World War II when it served as a pilot training base, later named Williams Air Force Base. The base closed in 1993 and reopened in 1994 as Williams Gateway Airport. The new aviation facility at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport is Garmin's third flight operations center in the United States, with the other two located in New Century, Kansas, and Salem, Oregon.