GE Aircraft Engines to establish MRO business in China
Overseas suppliers to China's ARJ21 regional jet programme are preparing to build businesses in the country to support the aircraft.
GE Aircraft Engines (GEAE) will be opening a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) business in China before the first planned engine overhaul, says Ron Schlechtweg, CF34-10 project manager.
Fuselage-mounted CF34-10A engines will power the ARJ21 built by China's AVIC I Commercial Aircraft (ACAC).
"Around 2010, if not before, we will open the MRO facility," said Schlechtweg, speaking at a conference in China organised by AVIC I to promote China's regional aviation market.
GEAE has yet to decide on the MRO firm's location, although it has signed a letter of intent with China's Shenyang Liming Aero Engine, which it plans to allow to perform main engine assembly and testing.
Despite this, the earlier batches of engines will be built and assembled in the USA. GEAE needs to build an MRO business because Chinese carriers want to avoid sending engines to the USA for repair. The US company has also kept open the possibility that its new MRO company might serve airlines in the region that use Embraer 190s and 195s powered by wing-mounted CF34-10s. "It is certainly possible but it is too soon to say," adds Schlechtweg.
Parker Aerospace is another key ARJ21 supplier, and the company's vice-president of marketing for flight control and hydraulic systems, Jim Ryder, says it plans to build a certified repair station before the ARJ21 is introduced. Ryder says this initiative is still "in the planning process", so details on location and start date are yet to be finalised.
The timing of GEAE's and Parker's investments remain sketchy because both companies want to ensure the support businesses open when ARJ21 airline customers need to use their facilities.
LEITHEN FRANCIS / JIUZHAIGOU
Source: Flight International
