China's first regional airline operator, Huaxia, has joined
hands with a military fighter plane producer to set up the largest
regional airline maintenance base in the west China region.
The company has signed an agreement with the Guizhou Group of
the China Aviation Industry Corporation I (CAIC I), a military
aviation research and manufacturing group, to jointly invest 80
million yuan (10.7 million US dollars) to set up the new firm to be
located at the Huangguoshu International Airport in Guiyang,
capital of Guizhou Province.
The deal is still waiting for the final approval from the
General Administration of Civil Aviation. The investors expect it
to come off by the end of the year.
Established in September 2006, Huaxia now operates 20 regional
air routes. Its fleet of imported CRJ-200 planes with 50 passenger
seats have entered thorough maintenance period.
Shen Binglong, vice general manager of Huaxia airlines, told
Xinhua that lack of feeder aircraft maintenance bases has become a
bottleneck for the development of China's fledgling feeder aviation
industry.
There are some 80 aircraft flying on branch lines in China and
nearly half of them fly on routes linking mountainous regions in
west China, where ground transports are not convenient. However,
China only had several aircraft maintenance bases in metropolitans
like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, said Shen.
Tan Weidong, board chairman and general manager of CAIC I
Guizhou, said that it was the first time that the factory has
entered general aviation field since it was founded more than 40
years ago. The company is qualified to maintain and manufacture
commercial aircraft.
(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2007)
