Pilatus opens joint venture company in China

Pilatus Aircraft Industry (China) Co., Ltd opened for business on August 5th, 2013 in the Chinese metropolis of Chongqing. The new joint venture company will allow Pilatus Aircraft Ltd to establish itself in the Chinese market. An initial contract to supply a total of 50 PC-12s/PC-6s has also been signed. The newly created company and associated Pilatus activities in China will have a positive impact on production operations in Switzerland.

The gradual opening up of Chinese air space has brought new importance to civil aviation. The Chinese aviation authority (CAAC) expects to see average growth of over ten percent in the Chinese aviation industry in the next few years.

Pilatus opted to set up a joint venture company with a Chinese Partner for the purpose of gaining a firm foothold in this new market. Indeed, Pilatus would not be able to sell its aircraft in China without the new company of which Pilatus has a majority shareholding.

Pilatus Aircraft Industry (China) Co., Ltd will provide a production platform for aircraft components - for the PC-6 and PC-12 only, both civilian aircraft. The company will not be involved in the production of components for military training aircraft (PC-21, PC-9 M and PC-7 MkII).

Oscar J. Schwenk, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pilatus Aircraft Ltd, comments:

"The PC-12 and Pilatus Porter PC-6 are optimum aircraft for this booming market, and we are confident our products have great potential. China has many small airfields with short runways - our aircraft are ideal for operating in and out of them."

Markus Bucher, CEO of Pilatus Aircraft Ltd, adds:

"We believe that a partnership with a local sales partner is the key to success. It also ties in with our strategy of ensuring optimum customer service through the closest possible geographic proximity. Assisted by our joint venture partner, TXJY – Beijing Tian Xing Jian Yu Science Co., Ltd., we will achieve our goal of establishing the Pilatus brand in China.“

The newly created company and associated Pilatus activities in China will not impact negatively on production operations in Switzerland. On the contrary, production in Switzerland will be reinforced by the anticipated sale of aircraft to China.

Over 275 new jobs have been created at the head office in Stans in the past two years, and further recruitment is planned in the future.