HAECO OPENS NEW COMPONENT MRO FACILITY AT XIAMEN

Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Limited (“HAECO”) Group has officially opened a new component MRO facility at Xiamen, in Mainland China called HAECO Component Overhaul (Xiamen) Limited, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the HAECO Group.

The initial 1,500 square-metre component MRO workshop setup has technical capabilities on hydraulic, mechanical, avionic and pneumatic systems across the Airbus and Boeing commercial aircraft fleets covering 400 part numbers, expanding to 1,200 by the end of 2014. The facility currently operates under European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approval, and intends to obtain approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). With a skilled workforce of 77 employees from Hong Kong and Xiamen, the new subsidiary aims to increase its production staff to over 200 by 2016.

The technical capabilities and production capacity of the Xiamen facility will dovetail with the HAECO Group’s component workshops in Hong Kong and in conjunction with the Group’s subsidiary and associate facilities covering wheels and brakes, tyres, aero- structures, landing gear, APUs, and other Line Replacement Units, will greatly enhance component support provided to the Group’s airframe and line maintenance customers around the Asia Pacific region.

The new company has put in place streamlined customs declaration and clearance procedures, enhanced round-the-clock logistics processes, and repair process optimisation to drive improvement in cycle times, component reliability, and supply chain costs. This will in turn enhance repair support for the Group’s inventory technical management company, HAECO ITM.

“We are committed to growing our component service capabilities as an integral part of our MRO portfolio,” said Augustus Tang, Chief Executive Officer of the HAECO Group. “Our overall strategy is focused on offering solutions for airframes, engines, cabins, and components that deliver value to our customers. The investment in people, infrastructure, and processes for the new component MRO will significantly enhance HAECO Group’s ability to meet our customers’ needs in one of the world’s fastest growing aviation markets.”