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Designing aircraft hangars is a complicated business. Rubb may have decades in the field with our fabric-clad, steel-frame hangars, but experience doesn’t amount to much if we don’t stay current with industry standards.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) developed a series of aerodrome codes to simplify aircraft categorisation by assigning aircraft two reference codes: one for field length (runway take-off distance—vital for airport planning), and one for wingspan.
As our main concern is custom-designing our fabric-clad MRO hangars for our clients’ aircraft, we mainly refer to ICAO’s wingspan codes. These run from A to F and have become industry shorthand for hangar requirements.
| Code | Wingspan | Example aircraft |
| Code A | < 15m | PIPER PA-31 / CESSNA 404 Titan |
| Code B | 15m – < 24m | BOMBARDIER Regional Jet CRJ-200 / DE HAVILLAND CANADA DHC-6 |
| Code C | 24m – < 36m | BOEING 737-700 / AIRBUS A-320 / EMBRAER ERJ 190-100 |
| Code D | 36m – < 52m | B767 Series / AIRBUS A-310 |
| Code E | 52m – < 65m | B777 Series / B787 Series / A330 Family |
| Code F | 65m – 80m | BOEING 747-8 / AIRBUS A-380-800 |
Aircraft are still commonly categorised as narrow- or wide-body, though this classification is less specific than ICAO’s codes.
Many clients future-proof their hangars by opting for larger spans to accommodate bigger aircraft, a growing fleet, or servicing multiple planes at once. As such, most of our narrow-body hangars fall into Code D, and our wide-body projects into Code F. Code C and E are rarely used outside of specific airport requirements.
With decades of experience and dozens of completed projects, we have the expertise to quickly suggest aircraft hangar specification, pricing, and design. Below you can see our typical specifications along with previous case studies.
| Code | Suggested Rubb spec | Example Rubb project |
| Code A | 20m Span x 20m Long x 5m Leg C/W 18m Wide x 5m High Fabric Vertical Lifting Door | CAE Aviation, Seychelles International Airport |
| Code B | 25m Span x 30m Long x 6m Leg C/W 23m Wide x 6m High Fabric Vertical Lifting Door | Loganair, Dundee Airport |
| Code C | 40m Span x 45m x 8m Leg C/W 38m Wide x 12.5m High Fabric Vertical Lifting Door | STS Aviation, Melbourne International Airport |
| Code D | 50m Span x 50m Long x 8m Leg C/W 45m Wide x 15m High Fabric Vertical Lifting Door | easyJet, Gatwick Airport / Welsh Gov., Bro Tathan Business Park |
| Code E | 70m Span x 75m Long x 8m Leg C/W 65m Wide x 18.5m High Fabric Vertical Lifting Door | Turkish Technic, Istanbul Airport |
| Code F | 90m Span x 90m Long x 12.5m Leg C/W 85m Wide x 26m High Fabric Vertical Lifting Door | AAR, Chicago Rockford International Airport |
These codes allow us to clearly understand our clients’ operational requirements and propose a high-quality, cost-effective solution. There’s a reason top-flight clients like Boeing, Turkish Technic, and easyJet trust Rubb.
For more information on ICAO aerodrome codes: The ABCs of aircraft hangar design talk to Rubb Buildings Ltd
