Chinese firm looks to sell 60-seater planes, awaiting all-clear

Istanbul: China’s state-run aircraft maker is plugging its turboprop planes to India, which it says is a potential market for dozens of the 60 seaters.
China Aviation Industry Corp. I, or Avic I as the company is known, is awaiting approval from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for the short-haul aircraft named MA60.
The aircraft is flying in six countries—Bolivia, the Congo, Indonesia, Laos, Zambia and Zimbabwe—and is suitable more for India than China, which has a more advanced transport infrastructure, said a senior official at AVIC I, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Should the Indian aviation regulator gives it approval, the Chinese aircraft maker hopes to sell its turboprops to customers such as the Delhi-based Indus Airways Pvt. Ltd and MDLR Airlines Pvt. Ltd., with which it has had talks.
It hopes to eventually win as many as ten Indian customers.
“We have had talks with the DGCA and a senior delegation that was expected to visit our facility last month could not make it. They are now expected to finalise their new dates (for a visit) soon,” the same official said, adding that Indian IT firms such as Infosys with bases in China were already helping the state-run aviation company in developing systems for such aircraft.
09/06/08 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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Categories: Foreign Jun 2008, New Jun 2008