The Airbus Lifecycle Services Center project broke ground in Chengdu, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province on Tuesday, another milestone for the project since Airbus signed the investment agreement with its partners in April this year. 

The project is Airbus' first aircraft lifecycle service project outside Europe. The company said the project has moved from the planning stage to construction and the aim is for it to enter into service by the end of 2023.

The Lifecycle Services Center project is the first one-stop service center for aged aircraft established by Airbus in China, with the concept of sustainable development. It provides a wide range of second-life services, including aircraft parking and storage, return-to-service checks or upgrading, airframe maintenance, disassembling and recycling.

Airbus cooperation projects in China will cover the whole aircraft lifecycle, from parts manufacturing, aircraft assembly, delivery and fleet operation to end-of-life services such as disassembly and recycling of high-value parts, according to George Xu, Airbus China CEO.

Airbus has always paid great attention to new trends in the aviation market in China and has been seeking Chinese partners to cooperate on business projects for mutual development. 

As an example of cooperation between Airbus and China, the service center will expand Airbus’ business scope in China. It will also benefit from the industrial setup and expertise in Chengdu to build a sound ecosystem for China’s aviation industry, the company said. 

With investment of no less than 6 billion yuan ($950 million), the project is expected to store a total of 685 aircraft, 98 dismantled aircraft, and 21 passenger-to-cargo aircraft by 2030.

Market watchers said the project will help to strengthen weak links within China's aviation maintenance industry, and establish a more mature aviation maintenance sector, bringing the country more into line with mature aviation markets.

Chengdu is the third city in the Chinese mainland to have dual international hub airports. The total scale of its aerospace industry has exceeded 80 billion yuan, according to a report by Chengdu Daily in January. 

Airbus recently revealed that it has been in close contact with Chinese airlines, especially small and medium-sized carriers, for the purchase of its 100- to 150-seat A220 aircraft, which has the highest proportion of Chinese components of all the Airbus aircraft models.