Xian Aircraft has secured a breakthrough deal for its MA60 turboprop, placing 10 aircraft with China's Okay Airways on long-term lease.
Okay chairman and president Liu Jieyin says that the lease agreement was signed with AVIC I International Leasing, which is the leasing arm of China Aviation Industry I, which makes the MA60 through subsidiary Xian Aircraft Industry Group.
The deal is a breakthrough for AVIC I in the Chinese market as there are currently no domestic operators of the MA60.
Several MA60s were previously in service with state-owned carriers, but all were eventually phased out and today the aircraft is only flying commercially in limited numbers in countries such as Laos, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Liu says the agreement covers 15-year leases on 10 MA60s, which are locally made 50- to 60-seat turboprop aircraft that also come in freighter variants. He says Okay Airways has the option to purchase the aircraft as part of the deal.
"We will get the aircraft gradually," says Liu. "We will have two this year, three afterwards and then five more. It will all be within two years."
Liu says the carrier plans to mainly acquire passenger-aircraft MA60s, but it has the option to order freighters by giving three months' notice to the manufacturer.
"It depends on the cargo operation with FedEx," says Liu of the possibility of acquiring freighters.
Privately owned Okay Airways launched services in 2005 as a passenger carrier and later expanded into freighter operations on behalf of FedEx. Its fleet comprises two Boeing 737-800 and one 737-500 passenger aircraft as well as three 737-300 freighters. It plans to add two more 737-800 passenger aircraft later this year.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
