US aircraft component maker Spirit AeroSystems is establishing a joint venture in China that will do maintenance work on aircraft composite parts.
Taiwanese carrier China Airlines (CAL) says in a statement it will have a 7.5% stake in the joint venture which is to be based in Jinjiang and be called Taikoo Spirit AeroSystems Composite.
CAL says Cathay Pacific Airways will also have a 7.5% stake and besides Spirit AeroSystems the other equity holders are the Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company (HAECO), Taikoo Xiamen Aircraft Engineering Company (TAECO) and a firm called First Wave.
“Taikoo Spirit AeroSystems Composite will provide manufacturing, repair service and after-sales service of composite and metal bond material used in civil aircraft systems,” says the Taiwanese airline.
“The company is scheduled to begin operations at the beginning of 2009 with a registered capitalization value of $8.48 million,” says CAL.
“CAL made the investment decision because of the rapid growth in the mainland’s aviation market, and because of the low cost of labour which meets the company’s need for workers and techniques in the area of composite maintenance,” it says.
Spirit AeroSystems is based in the USA and is one of Boeing’s major suppliers of composite and other parts.
HAECO is a Hong Kong maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) firm that is a key stakeholder in Taikoo Xiamen Aircraft Engineering Company, a MRO in Fujian province’s Xiamen city.
Taikoo Spirit AeroSystems Composite, will be based in Jinjiang, a town just north of Xiamen in Fujian province.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
Source: Flight International
