ST Engineering’s commercial aerospace division and SF Airlines have incorporated a joint venture company on May 17 to set up a MRO facility at the new Ezhou Huahu Airport. 

Known as ST Engineering Aerospace (Hubei) Aviation Services Company Limited, it is set up with a capital of CNY100 million ($14.2 million) with ST Engineering taking the majority 60% share. Incorporation finalizes the cooperation announcement first announced in Feb. this year. 

The first hangar is expected to be completed by 2025 and will service cargo and passenger airlines operating in the Asia region, including SF Airlines. 

“China will be a strong growth driver for Asia’s commercial aerospace sector over the next decade. A presence in Hubei, China, will enhance our MRO network in Asia to better meet and capture the rising regional demand, while our strategic collaboration with an airline partner will enable us to start up a greenfield operation quickly.” ST Engineering commercial aerospace president Jeffrey Lam said in a statement. 

Completed in June 2022, Ezhou Huahu airport has two runways and primarily serves SF Airlines as but also handling commercial traffic such as 9 Air, China Eastern Airlines and Sunan Ruili Airlines.