Data recently released by Haikou Customs shows that in the first three quarters of this year, Haikou Meilan Airport Customs supervised the entry of 13 engines with a total value of 2.08 billion yuan into the Haikou Airport Comprehensive Bonded Zone for bonded maintenance. As the policy benefits of the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) continue to take effect, the bonded maintenance business for aviation engines in Hainan has maintained strong growth.

Recently, a GEnx-1B aero-turbofan engine was brought into the Haikou Airport Comprehensive Bonded Zone to undergo a four-month cycle of bonded maintenance at Haikou Meilan Airport’s Genesis Aero Engine Maintenance Engineering Co., Ltd. Since the beginning of this year, market demand for maintenance of this engine model has increased significantly, with maintenance orders doubling.

In the Haikou Airport Comprehensive Bonded Zone, the bonded maintenance business in the aviation sector has expanded to cover both aircraft maintenance and aircraft engine maintenance. According to a representative from Haikou Customs, the first bonded engine maintenance order was fulfilled in November 2023, filling the gap in Hainan FTP’s engine maintenance sector. In less than a year since then, the sector has experienced rapid growth.

The One-stop Aircraft Maintenance Base at Haikou Meilan International Airport. (Photo: Li Hao / New Hainan App)

For aviation companies, repairing their engines in the Hainan FTP comes with a whole host of policy benefits, including "zero tariffs" on self-use equipment, exemption from security deposits for inbound maintenance, access to bonded aviation fuel, and duty exemptions on maintenance materials, significantly reducing engine maintenance costs.

Taking the GEnx-1B engine widely used on the Boeing 787 aircraft as an example, preliminary estimates suggest that airlines from China and Southeast Asia can save approximately 500,000 yuan per engine on transportation costs by sending them to Hainan for maintenance, while also reducing the total maintenance cycle by around 20 days.

Currently, Hainan offers a wide range of services, including line maintenance, major inspections, fuselage painting, and component and accessory repairs. With the concept of "one-stop" aircraft maintenance taking shape, Hainan boasts aviation maintenance certifications from several countries and regions, including the United States, the European Union, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, South Korea, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Bermuda, and Aruba.