Ulaanqab's municipal government and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of China sign a strategic cooperation agreement on Oct 23 to build an aviation industrial park project centered on aircraft storage, dismantling, repair and maintenance. [Photo/Ulaanqab Daily]

Ulaanqab municipal government signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of China (AOPA) at the 2020 International Symposium of General Disposition on Parking and Retired Aircraft, which was held on Oct 23 in Ulaanqab in North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The two sides will cooperate to build an aviation industrial park project centered on aircraft storage, dismantling, repair and maintenance. The facility will be located in Jining district of Ulaanqab city and has a total planned area of 20,000 mu (1,333.33 hectares).

When the aircraft center goes into use, it will accommodate up to 1,000 aircraft and become Asia's largest aircraft storage center and the world's third largest. 

It will provide customers with aircraft storage, modification, maintenance, aviation materials and second-hand aircraft transactions.

AOPA Chairman Zhang Feng stated at the symposium that, with the continuous and rapid development of China’s civil aviation industry, the number and type of retired aircraft have increased significantly. 

Green recycling of retired aircraft has become a must-face problem for developing the country’s aviation industry.

Due to the complex technology found in most planes and the complicated nature of the aircraft dismantling process, the market share of aircraft dismantling is monopolized by foreign countries.

Ulaanqab is rich in land resources, has a dry climate and excellent traffic conditions, making it an ideal place for aircraft storage, dismantling, repair and maintenance, Zhang added.