The city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, marked the official opening of its airport economic zone, when the China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings, Asia's only listed company in plane leasing, announced the recent acquisition of a 300,000-square-meter piece of ground to the south of the city’s Taiping International Airport, according to a Heilongjiang Daily report of July 7.

This is also a key provincial project and China’s first operation of its kind for disassembling aircraft, with construction work set to start soon on a large hangar, an aircraft parts warehouse with temperature and humidity controls, a power station, apron, and office building. The disassembly site is expected to be able to handle 10 aircrafts after the first phase is completed and ultimately to be able to dismantle more than 50 aircrafts annually.

The ultimate goal is to be one of the largest aircraft operations of its kind in the world and to serve both China and global markets. China Aircraft Leasing will also get involved in affiliated projects, such as an aerospace museum, a theme park, a teen education base, and a polytechnic college. Harbin is one of China’s four aviation bases and has a solid industrial foundation, and has a large number of airline employees and contacts with the Russian market.

China Aircraft Leasing is jointly controlled by State-owned China Everbright Group, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, and Friedman Pacific Investment Holdings, and its aircraft disassembly operation is expected to help extend the aviation industry value chain, develop the aviation disassembly business and advance the air transport industry in China.