April 15--A Cessna Aircraft Co. executive said Monday that a joint venture between it and China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co. to manufacture airplanes is progressing.
William Schultz, Cessna senior vice president of business development for China, said at the Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition that construction of facilities to produce the Citation XLS+ business jet and Caravan turboprop for sale in China is complete.
"And we expect tooling and equipment to be in place in Shijiazhuang by June and in Zhuhai before the end of the year," Schultz said in a news release.
Cessna said that it has appointed a couple of executives for the joint venture: Trey Wade, formerly of Bell Helicopter, has been named general manager for the Zhuhai operation, and David Howard, previously responsible for the Cessna Skycatcher 162 program in China, will be general manager of the Shijiazhuang joint venture.
The Wichita-based company also said it is working on appointing Shanghai Hawker Pacific Business Aviation Service Centre as an authorized Citation service center, which would be its second such center in China.
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