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| This man wants to buy your plane |
Last month, Washington-based Glasair Aviation announced it had a new Chinese owner — Fang Tieji, chairman of the Jilin Hanxing Group. Glasair Aviation is an aviation kit manufacturer that has sold 3,000 plane kits, according to this report in the Seattle Times. The planes can be built at home in two weeks and flown for personal use. The company will be joining a collection of other companies owned by the Jilin Hanxing Group, ranging from property development to construction to vehicle leasing. Fang (pictured at right), said he intends to keep the Glasair Aviation headquarters, management, and employees at its current home in Snohomish County.
Other examples include China Aviation Industry General Aircraft’s purchase of Cirrus Aircraft, a maker of four-seat planes in Minnesota. And Super Aviation Beijing is currently negotiating to acquire Hawker Beechcraft, a now-bankrupt company based in Kansas. They are expected to sell for $1.79 billion.Effects of the recession on the American general aviation industry have allowed Chinese companies to start building up their aviation strength, the report noted. In the market for commercial passenger jets, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China could break the hold that Boeing and Airbus have enjoyed for at least two decades. COMAC’s C919, a single-aisle jet that is expected to compete with the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737, uses foreign-made technology from manufactures such as Pratt & Whitney. Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair and IAG have signed agreements with COMAC to explore orders, and at least five Chinese carriers have already placed orders for the jet.
Boeing is responding to the growing importance of the China market by shuffling its executive team to put more focus on government relations, notes Steve Wilhelm in the Puget Sound Business Journal.
Soure: ContextChina
