China-based general aviation services company Avion Pacific has signed a strategic collaboration deal with aircraft developer Aerion to support its sales and marketing efforts in the Asia-Pacific region as well as operate several of the U.S. company’s AS2 supersonic business jets.
The “multi-aircraft” order represents the first AS2 purchases in China and extends the value of Aerion’s order backlog to more than $6.5 billion. Avion, which is based in Shenzhen, specializes in fixed and rotary aircraft sales and distribution, project consulting and support, aircraft flight services, spare parts distribution, aircraft leasing and financing and advanced rotary crew training and support.
In a statement, Avion Pacific chairman Wu Zhendong said the AS2 “is an aircraft that will shape the future of private aviation in Asia and globally and we at Avion Pacific wanted to be part of that.” The Asia-Pacific market is expected to be a potentially lucrative area for AS2 operations and sales as the geography of the region will permit a large number of over-water routes to be flown at unrestricted supersonic speeds.
Production of the first parts for the AS2 is expected to begin at a new site in Melbourne, Florida, in 2023, with flight tests starting in 2025. Construction work is expected to start shortly on the $300 million facility, which will cover 60 acres and assemble over 300 AS2s in the first decade of production.
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