Aircraft

East Pacific launches Taikoo programme

Chinese maintenance company Taikoo (Shandong) Aircraft Engineering (STAECO) has secured a launch order for its Pemco Aviation Group-supported Boeing 737-300 cargo-conversion programme from Chinese start-up East Pacific Airlines.

Shenzhen-based East Pacific Airlines has acquired two Boeing 737-300 passenger aircraft from China Eastern Airlines and these are now at STAECO’s base in Jinan waiting to be converted into freighters, says East Pacific Airlines chief executive Zhou Yongda.

East Pacific, which is seeking an air operator’s certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, plans to launch operations in August.

Shandong Airlines and Shandong Aviation Group own 12% and 51% of STAECO, respectively, while the company’s other major shareholders include Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering and TAECO with 20% and 10%.