China Delivered 57 Turboprop Aircraft to Export Customers

China has produced more than 100 MA60 and MA600 turboprop aircraft of which 57 have been exported.

The turboprop aircraft are designed to operate regional commercial flights, and some have been modified to undertake cloud seeding operations. The MA60 is the first short-range regional turboprop aircraft in China and was designed for short airstrips. The MA600 is an upgraded version of this model, Chinadaily reported Monday.

The AVIC Harbin Aircraft Industry Group Company Limited (HAIC) has completed the delivery of two MA60 and four Y-12E aircraft to Nepal Airlines when it delivered two Y-12Es in April this year, the company said in a statement Saturday.

AVIC is currently developing high-speed turboprop regional aircraft, MA700, the next model in the MA series. The aircraft is in detailed design phase and is scheduled to make its maiden flight in 2019.