Following on from our latest blog post, an update on the Chinese aerospace sector, we are today giving you the latest news in the Chinese aviation industry:

• Air China, the country’s flag carrier, will pay HK$6.3bn (£800m) for 491m shares in Cathay Pacific Airways, raising its stake in the Hong Kong based carrier to nearly 30%, according to China Daily.

• Air China began regular scheduled passenger and cargo flights between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan on August 31.  The Chinese carrier will operate 27 return flights each week across the Taiwan Strait on routes from Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou and Tianjin to Taipei.  Taiwan’s civil aviation authority granted Air China a business licence on August 13.

Sources: CBBC, Xinhua, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, FCO Country Updates and other news sources.

• China will need to buy 3,710 aeroplanes over the next 20 years, spending around US$390 trillion, said a recent forecast.  The growth of passenger and cargo air transportation will increase China’s aircraft fleet by more than three times to equal the current number of aircraft in Europe.

• China’s domestic aviation market has continued to grow during the first half of 2009.  At Beijing’s Capital International Airport, passenger volume from January to June rose by 20% over the same period last year.

• Taikoo Sichuan Aircraft Engineering Services Company has begun the construction of an Airbus maintenance base in Chengdu.  The plant is expected to become the biggest specialised maintenance base for Airbus in China, if not the whole of the Asian region, after its completion.

For more information on our aerospace market research services in China and Asia, please visit: http://b2binternational.com/China/b2bsectors/aerospace.php 

Sources: CBBC, Xinhua, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, FCO Country Updates and other news sources.

China’s biggest Airbus maintenance base is to be constructed in Chengdu.  The project of Taikoo Sichuan Aircraft Engineering Services Company will target domestic and foreign markets.  Taikoo hopes it will become the largest Airbus maintenance base in Asia, as well as providing an immediate boost to Chengdu’s aircraft industry.

Sources: CBBC, Xinhua, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, FCO Country Updates and other news sources.