China Business

Dec 23, 2005

CEA, Pratt & Whitney set engine repair JV

SHANGHAI - China Eastern Airlines Corporation Ltd (CEA) and Pratt & Whitney of the United States have signed a memorandum of understanding on launching an aircraft engine overhaul joint venture in Shanghai.

Planned to start operation at the end of 2007, the joint venture will be a large maintenance facility for CFM56 engines. It is designed to provide maintenance services mainly for airline clients in China and other Asia-Pacific countries and regions.

The CFM International CFM-56 series engines is a family of high-bypass turbofan engines made by CFM International with a thrust

range from 82 to 151 kilonewtons (kN). CFM International is a 50-50 joint company of Snecma Moteurs, France and General Electric Aircraft Engines of the US. Both companies are responsible for producing various components, with each having their own final assembly line.

GE is responsible for the high pressure turbojet, while Snecma is responsible for the low pressure front fans, the gearbox and the exhaust. The engine has been used on the Airbus A340 and Next-Generation Boeing 737, among other airframes.

CEA general manager Lui Chaogeng said the joint venture is of far-reaching significance to the future development of the company. CEA currently owns nearly 200 aircraft and operates 400-odd air routes including 70-odd international and regional routes.

Pratt & Whitney, founded in 1860, is an American owned aircraft engine manufacturer whose products are widely used in both civil and military aircraft. As one of the "big three" aero-engine manufacturers it competes with General Electric and Rolls-Royce, although it has also formed joint ventures with both of these companies.

In addition to aircraft engines, Pratt & Whitney manufactures fixed gas turbines for industry and power generation, marine turbines, railway locomotive engines, and rocket engines.

China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited is an airline based in Shanghai. A major Chinese airline operating international, domestic and regional routes, its main bases are Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

Established in 1988 by the CAAC Huadong Administration, in 1997, China Eastern took over loss-making China General Aviation and also became the country's first airline to offer shares on the international market. It founded China Cargo Airlines in a joint venture with China Ocean Shipping in 1998. In March 2001, it completed the takeover of Air Great Wall. China Yunnan Airlines and China Northwest Airlines merged into China Eastern Airlines in 2002.

(Asia Pulse/XIC)

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