TARMAC Aerosave, Airbus and the City of Chengdu have established Airbus Lifecycle Services, a Joint Venture for the first aircraft lifecycle services centre in China. The facility will offer aircraft storage, maintenance, dismantling and recycling services.
Airbus Lifecycle Services will cover a range of activities from aircraft parking and storage, to maintenance, upgrades, conversions, dismantling and recycling services for various aircraft types.
The announcement follows an initial Memorandum of Understanding signed in January 2022. Entry into service of the new centre is scheduled around the turn of this year. The facility will cover a surface area of 717,000 square metres and a storage capacity of 125 aircraft. It will be embedded in a complete ecosystem with an adjacent aviation industry park hosting aerospace manufacturing and services companies in Shuangliu District, Chengdu.
In addition to providing technical expertise, TARMAC Aerosave is also in charge of recruiting part of the local team, notably the production, quality and HSE (Health Safety Environment) positions.
“This new centre in Chengdu fits perfectly into Airbus' approach to environmental responsibility across the entire aircraft lifecycle. Aircraft storage, maintenance, upgrades and dismantling will all take place under one roof. We are very pleased to be working with our strong and experienced partners TARMAC Aerosave and the City of Chengdu to develop the first lifecycle services centre of this kind in China and its range of services," says Cristina Aguilar, Airbus SVP Customer Services.
"TARMAC Aerosave is the only one-stop-shop in the world that manages the entire life cycle of the aircraft, thanks to a unique dismantling process. We are therefore particularly proud to bring this exclusivity to the Chengdu centre through Airbus Lifecycle Services. We have imagined and designed it together in line with our modern and sustainable processes. We would like to thank Airbus, our historical shareholder, and Chengdu for their trust", said Alexandre Brun, President of TARMAC Aerosave.
75 percent of the aircraft stored in the centre will be transitioned into a second lifecycle. The remaining aircraft will be dismantled with the unique TARMAC Aerosave process, reusing and recycling around 90 percent of the aircraft weight, far exceeding industry standards.