Airbus Aircraft Lifecycle Services Project in Chengdu Will Enhance the Weak Links of the Industry Chain in China

    "This is the first aircraft recycling base established by Airbus outside Europe." The relevant person in charge of Chengdu Shuangliu District Aviation Economic Bureau said in an interview with China Business News that the Airbus project has strong industry chain integration and upstream and downstream resources integration capabilities, and the landing of the project will make up for the weak links in the industry chain such as passenger to cargo conversion, aircraft dismantling and aircraft modification, and drive the three major markets of aircraft leasing, used aircraft trading and aviation materials trade.

    On April 15, the "Airbus Aircraft Lifecycle Services Project Investment Agreement and Concept Design Launch" was held in Shuangliu District, Chengdu. The project will provide one-stop services for all types of aircraft, from parking and storage to maintenance, upgrade, modification, disassembly and recycling. With the signing of this agreement, the basic outline and functional areas of the project have been initially determined, and the project team will continue to refine the details based on this concept design.

    Previously, on January 18, Chengdu City has held a signing ceremony with Airbus, Tarmac Aerosave and Eurowings Aviation Materials for the "Airbus Aircraft Lifecycle Services Project", which will build "four centers and one platform" in Chengdu around the resources of "retired aircraft", i.e. parking and maintenance center, upgrade and modification center, aircraft dismantling center, passenger to cargo center and aviation materials trading platform.

    This Airbus project plans a total investment of no less than 6 billion yuan, with a proposed land area of 919 acres and a planned construction to park 125 aircraft, the project will break ground in the third quarter of this year and is expected to be completed and put into operation in the third quarter of 2023.

    According to the design plan, the project is equipped with major areas such as office and living area, MRO work area, USM work area, engine test area and traffic taxiway, which can fully meet all the needs of customers from parking, storage, maintenance, upgrade, modification, disassembly to recycling. The project is planned to have a capacity of 75 aircraft in the first phase and will be expanded to 125 aircraft in the future. The 45,000-square-meter construction area includes two hangars and two storage areas, disassembly areas, office buildings and related ancillary buildings. Each hangar can provide maintenance services and related work for one wide-body aircraft or two narrow-body aircraft at the same time.

    According to the design plan, the project is equipped with major areas such as office and living area, MRO work area, USM work area, engine test area and traffic taxiway, which can fully meet all the needs of customers from parking, storage, maintenance, upgrade, modification, disassembly to recycling. The project is planned to have a capacity of 75 aircraft in the first phase and will be expanded to 125 aircraft in the future. The 45,000-square-meter construction area includes two hangars and two storage areas, disassembly areas, office buildings and related ancillary buildings. Each hangar can provide maintenance services and related work for one wide-body aircraft or two narrow-body aircraft at the same time.

    The relevant person in charge of Airbus China said that the project's future aircraft disassembly and recycling rate will reach 90%, and the remaining 10% will involve solid waste green recycling treatment, which will also require cutting-edge technology to treat solid waste in the future to meet the corresponding standards.

    The landing of the Airbus project will also drive the local upstream and downstream industrial chain. Yue Qixuehe, general manager of Chengdu branch of Beijing Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Co., Ltd, said in an interview with reporters, "The protection of a world-class hub airport should require a world-class aviation maintenance service and technology provider." Wang Li, secretary of the board of directors of Chuanwei, said that his company has already started the passenger-to-cargo conversion of Airbus series aircraft and the dismantling business of various types of aircraft.

    It is understood that after the signing of the investment agreement, all parties will work together to promote the successful implementation of the project in accordance with the agreed principles of cooperation, including the negotiation and signing of relevant subsidiary agreements, as well as the initiation of equipment procurement, personnel recruitment and other work, and will continue to improve the project's architectural design plan. Xu Gang, Executive Vice President of Airbus and CEO of Airbus China, said that the project will recruit 60 talents by the end of 2023.

    At the end of December last year, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the "14th Five-Year Plan for Green Development of Civil Aviation". It is mentioned that by 2035, China's civil aviation green low-carbon cycle development system will be perfected; by 2025, the carbon emission intensity of China's civil aviation will continue to decrease, the proportion of low-carbon energy consumption will be increased, and the efficiency of civil aviation resource utilization will be steadily improved.

    Under this background, the Aircraft Value Management International Forum 2022 will be held on June23rd-24th , 2022 in Shanghai, China. The forum will mainly focus on new aircraft value assessment, disposal of old aircraft, aircraft leasing and operation, aims to introduce advance ideas and methods, share successful experiences, combine with that situation of the aviation division itself, to open up more efficient and more active aircraft management.

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