Hong Kong-based business aviation firm Metrojet is finally making a move into the Chinese market, via a joint venture with the mainland's Zhuhai Hanxing General Aviation.
The joint venture, Metrojet Hanxing, will offer services to business aviation clients out of the Chinese company's base in Zhuhai, a city in the province of Guangdong. The facility, at Zhuhai airport, also includes 15,000ft² (1,394m²) of hangar space, workshops and storage facilities.
"China ranks as one of the world's fastest growing markets in business aviation," said Björn Näf, chief executive of Metrojet, after formally signing the joint venture agreement at Abace 2013.
"We recognise the importance of the China market and, indeed, the entire Asian region to the future of business aviation. Our partnership with Zhuhai Hanxing General Aviation now enables Metrojet to deliver world-class business aviation service standards to customers in China."
Jilin Hanxing Group, which owns Metrojet's joint venture partner, made the news last year after buying Washington-based general aviation aircraft manufacturer Glasair Aviation. It has said that it plans to introduce Glasair's technology into the aircraft it hopes to manufacture in China, and it has ambitions to set up a string of fixed-based operations in China's secondary cities.
"We are delighted to partner with Metrojet as we work jointly to contribute to the further development of business aviation in China. Our respective aviation experience provides tremendous opportunities to service this sector as we continue to develop a market-leading, world-class aviation company in China," says Fang Tieji, chairman of Jilin Hanxing Group.
Metrojet, which is part of Hong Kong's Kadoorie Group, offers business aircraft management, charter and maintenance services out of its base in the Hong Kong Business Aviation Centre in the territory's airport. The agreement with Hanxing is part of the company's plans to expand beyond Hong Kong and provide services throughout the Asia Pacific business aircraft operators.
"Our China entry is a key step in our ongoing regional expansion programme, which has seen us continue to develop a strong regional presence over the last few years with the opening of our maintenance facility in Clark Freeport Zone in the Philippines and our recent joint-venture partnership with Taj Air offering maintenance and management services in Mumbai, India," says Naf.
Source: Flight International
