As Hong Kong began to emerge as a regional aviation hub, HAECO was officially established in November 1950 following the merger of PAMAS and JAMCo. In the first decade of operation, HAECO trebled its turnover and workforce. Our offerings and customer base grew as we introduced overhaul services for turboprop aircraft and built our first engine test bed.

Building on a successful first decade, HAECO continued to flourish and was floated on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1965. We further developed our capacity and capabilities, and by 1965 we were fully equipped to service the Convair 880M jet airliners introduced by Cathay Pacific. In 1968 we began the construction of what at the time was Asia’s largest aircraft maintenance hangar.

The 1970s was an era of rapid development and change. With the arrival of the bigger jetliners, we broadened our capabilities to encompass a range of widebody aircraft and jet engine types, including the L1011 TriStar series equipped with Rolls-Royce RB211 engines. We became an official member of the Swire Group when Swire Pacific increased its shareholding in HAECO to 51% in 1975.

By the 1980s, HAECO’S reputation among international carriers had been firmly cemented. Our high standards and rapid turnaround times on major overhaul contracts led to an increasing amount of business from overseas airlines, while our first aircraft conversion – upgrading a L1011-1 TriStar jetliner into a L1011-150 freighter – was completed.

The 1990s were formative years for HAECO and also for our Hong Kong home base. The decade saw the formation of important joint ventures, including TAECO in Xiamen (later to become HAECO Xiamen) and the HAESL aircraft engine facility in Hong Kong. In 1998, we relocated to a brand-new HK$1.4 billion facility at the new Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) on Chek Lap Kok island.

HAECO opened its second hangar at HKIA and began work on its third. We also opened additional MRO and component facilities in Singapore and Bahrain as well as in Xiamen and Jinjiang in the Chinese Mainland. In Xiamen, TAECO performed its first Boeing 747-200 passenger to all-freighter conversion, and in 2005 converted the world’s first 747-400 Boeing Converted Freighter for Cathay Pacific.

The HAECO Group continued to establish itself as a truly global operator. In early 2014 we acquired TIMCO Aviation Services to add North American MRO airframe and cabin solutions to our portfolio. We also expanded our operations in Hong Kong and across the Chinese Mainland, including Xiamen, Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Tianjin, Nanjing, Chongqing, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Harbin, Ningbo and Hangzhou. On 30 November 2018, HAECO became a wholly owned subsidiary of Swire Pacific.

The COVID-19 pandemic threw the aviation world into turmoil but the HAECO Group emerged even more focused on the future. We are making new investments and expanding our capabilities to embrace the post-COVID era, including a new aircraft painting facility in Lake City, Florida and the world’s largest single span aircraft maintenance hangar in Xiamen. We are embracing digitalisation and innovation, including the deployment of augmented reality to enhance the efficiency of our maintenance operations, while ramping up efforts to make our services more sustainable.