BEIJING -
Xi'an Aircraft Industry (Group) Company Ltd (XAC),
one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in
China, delivered the first shipment of specialized
freight parts used to convert Boeing 747-400s to
freighters on November 7. XAC is headquartered in
the capital of northwest China's Shaanxi province.
The parts are to be used for a special
project involving Boeing 747-400s: the
re-equipping of the Boeing passenger planes for
reuse as cargo planes. It is being jointly carried
out by Boeing, XAC, Japan's Mitsubishi and Taeco
Company in China's Xiamen, said Gao Dacheng,
general manager of XAC. "This is the first time my
company has participated in the re-equipment field
for large
aircraft in international
aviation, which indicates that our management and
production abilities have caught up with other
leading aviation enterprises around the world,"
said the general manager. "My company signed the
contract to produce 99 floor beams, the most
valuable components XAC has ever produced for a
foreign aircraft company," Gao added.
According to a forecast report by Boeing,
in the next 20 years, the world market will
require a further 3,000 freight planes, of which
75% will be produced by re-equipping retired
passenger planes.
XAC started producing
parts for the freight project in October 2004.
These parts produced by XAC will be used for the
first re-equipped Boeing 747-400, which is being
built in Xiamen by Taeco Company, and the first
passenger-to-cargo plane will be put into
operation by the end of this year, according to
Kenyata, vice-president of Boeing China. Boeing is
scheduled to purchase aircraft parts valued at
some US$1.5 billion in China, of which many will
be made by XAC. Kenyata commented on the high
quality of the products made by XAC for Boeing,
which has encouraged him to carry out further
long-term cooperation with XAC.
XAC, one
of China's major civil aircraft manufacturers,
started international joint ventures in the early
1980s, and has made more than 5,200 parts for
Boeing, Airbus and other large foreign aviation
companies over the past 20 years, Gao said.
