On May 22, China Aircraft Services Limited (CASL) announced the opening of its new aircraft maintenance hangar at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA).

CASL is one of the only two companies franchised by the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) to provide aircraft line and base maintenance services at the HKIA.

The hangar, which represents an additional HK$400 million (about US$51.66 million) investment by CASL into Hong Kong, provides 10,000 square meters of maintenance space and took about two years to build.

This expansion will enable CASL to increase its service offering to include hangar workshop support, heavy maintenance checks and major defect rectifications to its clients including airline companies from Asia, Europe and America operating flights in and out of Hong Kong.

CASL Chief Executive Officer, Angus Cheung, said, "We see huge opportunities for the HKIA brought about by continued developments facilitating connections between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta. Our additional investment in the city represents our confidence in Hong Kong's strengthening position as a regional aviation hub."

The company anticipates that its expansion will create over 200 new job opportunities for the aviation industry in Hong Kong.

Designed to meet increasing demand for its services, CASL's new hangar is large enough to accommodate one wide-body and one narrow-body aircraft at the same time. This allows for servicing of both the large Boeing 747 aircraft used for international flights as well as the smaller aircraft used for regional flights.

CASL has grown from around 300 employees in 1998 to over 1,000 currently and is one of the largest aircraft maintenance and ground support service providers in Hong Kong now.