China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) yesterday inked a memorandum of understanding with Airbus Group SE, as the nation’s biggest carrier prepares to venture into the aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul market.
Under the terms of the agreement, Airbus is to bolster CAL’s technical capacity in servicing the A350 XWB, A320 and A330/A340 families of aircraft as well as develop new business solutions.
The two companies have set their sights on evaluating the feasibility of extending the aircraft retrofitting and cabin and frame modification businesses to Taiwan, CAL said.
Photo: Wang I-hung, Taipei Times
Airbus is also to provide support for CAL’s engineering and technical training capabilities in Taiwan and to obtain the required certifications, the carrier said.
The companies said that they are also evaluating the benefits of having Satair Group and other Airbus affiliates become key parts suppliers for CAL.
“As there are not many other carriers that have added the Airbus A350 in Asia, we aim to be among the first movers in opportunities related to the new aircraft,” CAL chairman Ho Nuan-hsuan (何煖軒) told reporters at a news conference in Taoyuan.
Given the location and ongoing development of the Taoyuan Aerotropolis Project, Taiwan is well-positioned to become a major aircraft servicing hub, and tap a global market that is estimated to expand to US$86.9 billion this year from 2014’s US$57.7 billion, Ho said, citing industry studies.
Asia is expected to see the strongest growth momentum, he added.
Carriers must diversify into other areas to cope with rising competition and low airfare margins of between 3 and 5 percent, Ho said.
“The success of EVA Airways Corp’s (長榮航空) aircraft maintenance partnership with Boeing Co is a prime example of what might be achieved by its Taiwanese peers,” Ho said.
CAL yesterday also held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new facility that is to be operated by Taiwan Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Co Ltd (台灣飛機維修), its fully-owned subsidiary that was established in January last year.
Set to be completed in March next year, the facility is designed to hold as many as five Airbus jetliners for servicing.
In related news, TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空) said that its fleet of 11 aircraft would be sold at auction next month, with delivery scheduled to take place in March or April as the company carries out plans to dissolve its business.
TransAsia said that it has observed all regulatory requirements in its dissolution and would pay NT$10,000 bonus to each of its 1,735 employees, in addition to the NT$600 million fund it plans to distribute among them for severance compensation, pending approval from its shareholders.
The company denied it had made contact with FAT Taiwan Inc (遠東航空) regarding buyout and restructuring plans.
However, the improved compensation offer failed to end disputes with the company’s workers’ union, with some members yesterday storming into the Ministry of Labor compound to express their anger.
Taiwan’s exports soared 56 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$64.05 billion last month, propelled by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and cloud service infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) called the figure an unexpected upside surprise, citing a wave of technology orders from overseas customers alongside the usual year-end shopping season for technology products. Growth is likely to remain strong this month, she said, projecting a 40 percent to 45 percent expansion on an annual basis. The outperformance could prompt the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and
Two Chinese chipmakers are attracting strong retail investor demand, buoyed by industry peer Moore Threads Technology Co’s (摩爾線程) stellar debut. The retail portion of MetaX Integrated Circuits (Shanghai) Co’s (上海沐曦) upcoming initial public offering (IPO) was 2,986 times oversubscribed on Friday, according to a filing. Meanwhile, Beijing Onmicro Electronics Co (北京昂瑞微), which makes radio frequency chips, was 2,899 times oversubscribed on Friday, its filing showed. The bids coincided with Moore Threads’ trading debut, which surged 425 percent on Friday after raising 8 billion yuan (US$1.13 billion) on bets that the company could emerge as a viable local competitor to Nvidia
BARRIERS: Gudeng’s chairman said it was unlikely that the US could replicate Taiwan’s science parks in Arizona, given its strict immigration policies and cultural differences Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登), which supplies wafer pods to the world’s major semiconductor firms, yesterday said it is in no rush to set up production in the US due to high costs. The company supplies its customers through a warehouse in Arizona jointly operated by TSS Holdings Ltd (德鑫控股), a joint holding of Gudeng and 17 Taiwanese firms in the semiconductor supply chain, including specialty plastic compounds producer Nytex Composites Co (耐特) and automated material handling system supplier Symtek Automation Asia Co (迅得). While the company has long been exploring the feasibility of setting up production in the US to address
OPTION: Uber said it could provide higher pay for batch trips, if incentives for batching is not removed entirely, as the latter would force it to pass on the costs to consumers Uber Technologies Inc yesterday warned that proposed restrictions on batching orders and minimum wages could prompt a NT$20 delivery fee increase in Taiwan, as lower efficiency would drive up costs. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi made the remarks yesterday during his visit to Taiwan. He is on a multileg trip to the region, which includes stops in South Korea and Japan. His visit coincided the release last month of the Ministry of Labor’s draft bill on the delivery sector, which aims to safeguard delivery workers’ rights and improve their welfare. The ministry set the minimum pay for local food delivery drivers at
RSS