Pacific Aerospace Works To Establish China Support

Utility turboprop maker Pacific Aerospace has taken the first step toward establishing a maintenance presence in China, signing an agreement with Chengdu Huatai Aviation Technology last week at the Zhuhai Airshow to develop engine and airframe support for the growing Chinese P750XL fleet.

“One of our objectives is to assist Huatai to gain Civil Aviation Administration of China [CAAC] Part 145 approval by the end of the first quarter of 2017,” said Damian Camp, CEO of the New Zealand-based airframer and its Chinese joint venture, Beijing Pan Pacific Aerospace Technology. “This will enable Huatai to deliver line and base maintenance capability on the P750 airframe and PT6A engine.”

That work is expected to be performed not only at Huatai’s main base in Chengdu, but also at remote airfields around China. To achieve this, Huatai will deploy small maintenance teams to perform scheduled work at or near a customer’s location.