Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Corporation

Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Corporation Limited known as Ameco Beijing is the largest[according to whom?] aircraft maintenance supplier in China.

Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Corporation
Ameco Beijing
Company typejoint venture
IndustryMaintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO)
FoundedAugust 1, 1989 (1989-08-01)
HeadquartersShunyi District, Beijing, China
Owner
Websiteameco.com.cn
Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Corporation Limited
Simplified Chinese北京飞机维修工程有限公司
Traditional Chinese北京飛機維修工程有限公司
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinBěijīng Fēijī Wéixiū Gōngchéng Yǒuxiàngōngsī

History

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Ameco hangar, completed in 1996
 
Entrance of Ameco, with its new logo visible

The company was founded in May 1989 by Air China as a 60/40 joint venture with minority partner Lufthansa under a joint venture agreement set to last for 15 years.[1][2] Each side made contributions to the joint venture with Air China providing 3,750 employees, the workflow of Air China maintenance, spare stocks, and a sprawling maintenance complex at Beijing Capital International Airport while Lufthansa provided an initial capital infusion of $37.6 million and technical and management support.[2] The company was officially registered on 1 August 1989.[3]: 913 

In the first few years, the company made major upgrades in facilities and training. An apprentice training program was started in 1990 to train Chinese aircraft, engine, and avionics technicians. The first class of 48 students graduated in 1992.[4] A new $65.6 million hangar was built in 1996 with enough space to fit four Boeing 747 wingtip to wingtip, allowing Ameco to perform heavy maintenance.[2][3]: 931  In 2008, another new hangar was built to meet the maintenance demand of Airbus A380.[5][6]

Services

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Ameco A380 hangar completed in 2008

In addition to the main facilities in Beijing, Ameco has 6 outstations in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Tianjin, Qingdao and Chengdu.

Early on the company gained foreign clients, painting aircraft for Northwest Airlines, Air New Zealand, and Korean Air.[7] It received its first European heavy maintenance orders in 1997 when Lufthansa started to move overhaul work from Hamburg headquarters to Ameco.[7]

In 2005, United Airlines and Ameco signed a 5-year deal for heavy maintenance work on the entire fleet of 55 Boeing 777s.[8] The relationship expanded in 2010, when another 5-year contract was signed, including both the Boeing 747s and 777s fleets.[9] In the same year, Aeroflot signed a deal to send line check work on 4 Boeing 767s to Ameco.[10]

See also

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  • HAECO: aircraft maintenance company headquartered in Hong Kong
  • GAMECO

References

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  1. ^ United States Congress Joint Economic Committee, ed. (1992), China's economic dilemmas in the 1990s: the problems of reforms, modernization, and interdependence Studies on contemporary China (2 ed.), M.E. Sharpe, ISBN 978-1-56324-159-8, retrieved 2011-04-02
  2. ^ a b c "Ameco Adopts Western Standards To Attract Wider Customer Base". Aviation Week. 1992-06-07.
  3. ^ a b 中国民用航空志华北地区卷编纂委员会 (2012). 中国民用航空志· 华北地区卷 第2卷 (in Chinese). 中国民航出版社. ISBN 978-7-80110-984-2.
  4. ^ "China Blossoms as Aerospace Market". Aviation Week. July 6, 1992.
  5. ^ "首都机场A380飞机库18日落成". Beijing Daily. 2008-03-19. Archived from the original on 2020-05-08. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  6. ^ "亚洲最大的A380机库正式投入使用". CAAC News. 2008-07-11. Archived from the original on 2020-05-08. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  7. ^ a b "China Snags European Overhauls". Aviation Week. 1997-10-20.
  8. ^ Skertic, Mark (31 August 2005). "China to service United 777 fleet". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  9. ^ "United Airlines, Ameco Sign 5-Year Maintenance Deal". Aviation Pros. 2010-03-29.
  10. ^ Yeo, Ghim-Lay (2010-02-03). "Ameco Beijing signs MRO contracts with United and Aeroflot". Flight Global.
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