As one of the leading aviation regulatory authorities in the Asia-Pacific region and the world, the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department (CAD) will not only continue to actively participate in international civil aviation exchange activities but will also further engage in national civil aviation collaboration. Liao Zhiyong, Director of the Civil Aviation Department, stated that the development and safety standards of mainland China's civil aviation are evident to all. Hong Kong, the mainland, and Macau will strengthen cooperation on existing foundations, for example in areas such as mutual recognition of aircraft type certification, type certification of the C929 aircraft, extending the mutual recognition of maintenance organizations to overseas markets, and certification of aviation fuel and chemical products. He expressed hope that announcements would be made soon.
Mutual Recognition of Aircraft Maintenance Among the Three Regions Saves Additional Costs
Since the handover of Hong Kong, the Civil Aviation Department has signed multiple cooperation arrangements with the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Macau. These include the 'Joint Maintenance Management Cooperation Arrangement' signed at the end of 2021, which provides comprehensive professional qualification mutual recognition for aircraft maintenance and training organizations across the three regions. At the end of 2024, a revised 'Memorandum of Understanding on Close Cooperation in Airworthiness Certification' was signed to further expand and enhance tripartite cooperation in the field of airworthiness certification.
Liao Zhiyong emphasized that tripartite cooperation benefits the aviation industry. Taking mutual recognition of maintenance organizations as an example, before such cooperation, aircraft requiring maintenance outside their place of registration had to undergo approval from the civil aviation authorities of all three regions, incurring additional costs. In the future, as long as a maintenance organization is recognized by Hong Kong, mainland aircraft can be serviced there, and vice versa. This will help reduce approval procedures and improve maintenance efficiency.
CAD Has Confidence in Domestically Produced Aircraft
The three regions will cooperate on mutual recognition of aircraft type certification (including both conventional aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles), as well as the type certification of the domestically produced C929 aircraft. Liao Zhiyong said that the CAD has actively participated in the certification work of the C909 and C919 aircraft and has confidence in domestically produced aircraft. He hopes Hong Kong can play a role in 'bringing in and going global.' He noted, 'Now both China Eastern Airlines and Air China have C919 flights. More passengers have seen that after more than a year of operation, these aircraft are no different from others. Whether domestically produced aircraft can go global depends on many commercial factors. What we can provide is a platform for people to see how comfortable and safe these aircraft truly are.'