15 Mar 2021

China Aviation Industry Newsletter 15 March

AirAsia's China dream gets strong backing from new investor AirAsia's newest major shareholder Stanley Choi wants to realize CEO Tony Fernandes' long-held goal of landing the no-frills Malaysian airline in the Chinese market. Choi now owns an 8.96% stake in AirAsia via a private placement last month. Cathay Pacific to run 15 of Dragon’s mainland routes Cathay Pacific has been given approval to run 15 routes previously given up by its scrapped airline Cathay Dragon, and is expected to relaunch those routes this summer the earliest. The Civil Aviation Administration of China recently granted the operating permit of 15 routes between Hong Kong and mainland to Cathay. China's civil-aviation industry continues to recover China's civil-aviation sector continued to recover in February. Chinese airports handled a total of 231,700 outbound flights last month, up 128%  compared with the same period last year, according to a report released by VariFlight. The report shows the number of domestic flights rose 151% year on year. FL ARI obtains CAAC Part 145 Maintenance Organization Certification for Base Maintenance FL ARI Aircraft Maintenance & Engineering Company Ltd based in Harbin, China, has successfully completed the audit and received the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) approval on company’s base maintenance capabilities, and has been granted Part 145 maintenance certification to carry out regular maintenance, repair, modification and other operations for Airbus A320 series aircraft. Grounded fleet size of China Eastern Airlines reduced to zero at Shanghai base The grounded fleet size of China Eastern Airlines has fallen to zero at its Shanghai base, the carrier said in a note sent to the Global Times on the 12th March another signal that the aviation market is recovering. China Eastern's average daily passenger flight volume has recovered to about 2,400. It is expected that there will be a surge in travel during the upcoming Chinese traditional festivals such as Qingming Festival and the May Day holidays. MTU Maintenance Zhuhai and Sichuan Airlines sign narrowbody engine agreement MTU Maintenance and long-standing partner Sichuan Airlines have strengthened their existing relationship with an engine MRO contract for the airline’s V2500 and CFM56-5B engines. The agreement covers 259 engines including spares for a five-year period and services will be carried out at MTU Maintenance’s facilities in Zhuhai, Hannover and Vancouver. Acumen Aviation © 15 March 2021 All Rights Reserved.