（Photo by Hainan Daily）

A few days ago, a freshly repainted Qatar Airways Boeing 787 wide-body was seen being slowly maneuvered out of the one-stop aircraft maintenance base’s paint hangar by a small pushback.

It was painted by HNA Aviation Technic subsidiary STTS Hainan Aerospace Painting Company Limited (APC) and will shortly be delivered back to its owners.

Early in 2024, HNAT-STTS and Qatar Airways signed a three year aircraft painting agreement which will bring nearly 100 million yuan in revenue to Hainan. This 787 wide-body is the first aircraft for STTS to paint as part of their agreement with Qatar.

（Photo by Hainan Daily）

Over the past year, Qatar had previously arranged for three Boeing 777 aircraft be painted in Hainan, and recognizing STTS's professional, efficient and high-quality services, the airline decided to sign an agreement with them. In terms of expanding the Hainan Free Trade Port's one-stop aircraft maintenance base and its services, an agreement of this size and scope is very significant.

According to STTS Manager Li Yedi, Hainan has a great number of advantages when it comes to developing the aircraft maintenance industry. As realized by the maintenance base's provision of “one-stop services” (such as regular inspection, painting, and parts and accessories maintenance) and the Hainan Free Trade Port’s tax exemptions, convenience and cost are the two biggest of these advantages. In addition to inbound aircraft being able to enjoy Hainan’s preferential policies (such as deposit-free maintenance, bonded aviation fuel refueling, and duty-free replacement parts), the Free Trade Port also faces the vast markets of Europe, the Middle East and Africa.