SINGAPORE - VT Mobile Aerospace Engineering, an aerospace unit of Singapore Technologies Engineering (ST Engineering), has agreed to set up an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Pensacola, Florida.

The company signed an agreement with the City of Pensacola to set up the MRO facility at the Pensacola International Airport, ST Engineering said in a statement on Wednesday. This follows a memorandum of understanding the two parties inked in December last year.

The City of Pensacola will construct an aircraft hangar complex on 18.66 acres of greenfield land and lease it to VT Mobile Aerospace Engineering for 30 years.

The hangar, which is expected to be operational in mid-2016, will be able to accommodate two wide-body aircraft.

"We have played a pioneering role in the development and growth of the aviation industry in the Gulf Coast region in the last two decades, and have been looking for a suitable location to expand our presence and service offerings in this region," said General John Coburn, chairman and chief executive of VT Systems, the US headquarters of ST Engineering.

He added that "Pensacola presented an opportunity for us to add to our capacity with the development of an aircraft MRO facility within the Pensacola International Airport".

The city's strategic location, good infrastructure and dynamic leadership team were factors in VT Mobile Aerospace Engineering's decision to establish its presence there, General Coburn said.

"We believe this collaboration will bring about a more robust aerospace cluster and create greater business and job opportunities for the people living in Pensacola and Escambia County," said Mayor Ashton Hayward of the City of Pensacola.