The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has announced that construction is underway for the first maintenance hangar at Beijing's new airport.
In a statement, the CAAC says that that Hangar 1, spanning 222 metres by 183 metres, has already had its roof capped. It is part of a future MRO centre at the airport.
It will be able to accommodate up to 12 aircraft. At present, it has maintenance lines for eight aircraft including five widebodies (comprising of two Airbus A380s and three Boeing 777s) as well as three narrowbodies.
Hangar 1 will be operated by China Southern Airline's MRO unit, Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (GAMECO).
The CAAC adds that the new facility, touted to be world's largest, will be able to enable the carrier to realise its 'double hub' strategy of operating from Guangzhou and Beijing to further improve the country's aviation sector.
Beijing’s second international airport is targetted to be completed by the end of 2018, and that the gateway will meet navigation conditions by September the next year. Operations are expected to begin on 1 October 2019.
Meanwhile, GAMECO will invest also CNY573 million ($90.5 million) in a new aircraft component repair centre at its Guangzhou airport headquarters.
Construction of the 60,000 sqm facility will begin in 2019 and is expected to be operational three years later.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
