China Southern Air Holding will increase flights at Zhuhai (Jinwan) Airport and expand its ventures in aircraft engine repair and flight training in the Zhuhai Free Trade Zone to help the city to become a gateway hub of the Greater Bay Area.

A strategic cooperation agreement to that effect was signed by Yao Yisheng, mayor of Zhuhai, and Ma Xulun, general manager of China Southern, in Guangzhou on June 2.

Accordingly, China Southern Air Holding will continue to optimize its air route network and increase transport capability at Zhuhai Airport. It will bolster Zhuhai-based China Southern Airlines General Aviation as a domestic bellwether with diversified businesses and establish the city as a comprehensive zone in the general aviation sector.

China Southern Airlines plane with flaps down [Photo courtesy WeChat account: zhuhaifabu] 

China Southern furthermore agreed to expand the MTU Maintenance plant, a 50/50 joint venture with German manufacture MTU Aero Engines. China's largest and highest-level maintenance base for civil aviation engines, MTU is to become most competitive in the Asian-Pacific region. In terms of pilot training, China Southern will bring in more flight simulators to improve teaching and R&D at Zhuhai Xiangyi Aviation Technology, the largest training base of its kind in Asia and a joint venture with CAE, a Canadian enterprise for flight simulators and training. 

At a symposium prior to the signing ceremony, Zhuhai Party Secretary Guo Yonghang called for a mutually beneficial partnership with China Southern in the aviation sector that will lead to an improved local air route layout suitable for the city's goal of becoming a gateway hub of the Greater Bay Area.

Optimistic about Zhuhai's development prospects, China Southern will strengthen collaboration with the city by opening more air routes and deploying more aircraft to boost the local aviation industry, said Wang Changshun, chairman of China Southern.

Headquartered in Guangzhou, China Southern has Asia's largest and world's third-largest fleet with over 3,000 daily flights reaching 224 destinations in more than 40 countries and regions on more than 1,000 air routes.