GUANGZHOU AIRCRAFT Maintenance Engineering (GAMECO) is considering opening up its joint venture to new partners, as part of its planned expansion into central China.
The company plans to start building a new two-bay widebody aircraft maintenance hangar in early 1996 and has targeted the city of Wuhan as the most suitable location. The hangar is needed to relieve pressure on GAMECO's site at Guangzhou's Baiyun Airport.
Among the options under consideration is allowing an additional shareholder to invest either directly in GAMECO or in a separate local joint venture. A local partner is considered beneficial to winning municipal approval for the new operation.
"We're not yet in detailed discussions, but we know who we could partner with," says GAMECO general manager Dan Lange. A final decision by the joint venture's principal shareholders, China Southern Airlines, Lockheed Aircraft Service and Hutchison, is expected soon.
In addition to providing extra capacity for China Southern, the new GAMECO site is intended to attract new third-party maintenance work from smaller airlines operating in central China. Two different size double-bay hangars are being considered to accommodate Boeing 767s or 747/777s.
GAMECO's longer-term plan is to build a new 747-size three-bay hangar at Guangzhou's projected replacement airport. The new airport, however, is not expected to be completed until the year 2000, two year's after GAMECO existing single Baiyun hangar reaches maximum capacity.
Source: Flight International
