The city of Xiamen – located in East China's Fujian province – is expecting further growth in its aviation maintenance business, in the wake of the pronounced improvement in the air transport industry.
At an aviation maintenance center in Xiamen, a batch of escape slides were recently delivered to the workshop, where engineer Gao Po and his colleagues expanded and then inspected them after checking technical information.
"Our functional test is carried out within six seconds and then when the pressure reaches a certain PSI, or pounds per square inch, (we check) whether its light is on or not," Gao said.
"After that, we apply the leak testing liquid at some key positions to see if there is a bubble, to find out any leakages".
Gao said that their work orders arrive in e-mails and they receive an increasing number of emails every day, with their tasks involving inspections and maintenance of various aviation accessories.
Overall, the workload has risen by one third compared with last February.
The center is home to more than 10 aviation maintenance enterprises, covering aircraft overhauls and the maintenance of engines, parts and accessories. Currently, almost all of the businesses there are operating at full capacity.
According to the general manager of a landing gear maintenance service provider, his company plans to expand its facilities, since it now works on about 300 sets of landing gear every year and that number is projected to increase to 365.
Statistics showed that the Xiamen Customs supervised 385 inbound and outbound maintenance aircraft in 2022, up 13.9 percent year-on-year. The value of the aviation maintenance and processing trade has more than doubled year-on-year and the recent growth rate has further accelerated.
In the fourth quarter of last year, the monthly cumulative growth rate of inbound and outbound maintenance aircraft in Xiamen exceeded 10 percent year-on-year. The monthly cumulative growth rate of inbound and outbound bonded aviation materials, meanwhile, saw a year-on-year increase of 35 percent.
To top it off, the business volume of over 60 percent of aviation maintenance enterprises in the city is reported to have approached or even exceeded the peak volume before the outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic.