Airbus to set up aircraft transition center in SW China

CHENGDU, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Airbus plans to establish an aircraft transition center in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu to manage the entire "lifecycle" of aircraft, including dismantling and recycling.

The plan was unveiled at a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony on Tuesday attended by Airbus, Chengdu authorities, French aircraft dismantler Tarmac Aerosave and Airbus subsidiary Satair.

It is the first aircraft-recycling project outside of Europe that Airbus has directly invested in, according to Airbus.

George Xu, CEO of Airbus China, said that the project is consistent with China's green development strategy and will help promote the sustainable development of the aviation industry, while improving the recycling efficiency of aircraft and aviation materials.

With a total investment of no less than 6 billion yuan (about 945 million U.S. dollars), the proposed facility is expected to be put into use by September 2023. It will cover an area of 61 hectares, with a storage capacity of 125 aircraft, according to a news conference following the ceremony.

According to the plan, the project is expected to store 685 aircraft and dismantle 98 aircraft by 2030, with an estimated industrial scale of 21.07 billion yuan.