Hong Kong-based engineering and maintenance provider HAECO has announced plans to establish a joint venture with Sun Group, Toyota Tsusho and Japan Airlines to develop a new aircraft maintenance facility at Van Don International Airport in Vietnam, according to Aviation Business News, in a project valued at US$360 million (approximately €302 million).

Subject to government and regulatory approvals, the facility will occupy approximately 170,000 square metres, making it one of the largest aircraft maintenance hangars in Vietnam. The development will centre on a four-bay widebody hangar with flexibility to accommodate narrowbody aircraft in the middle bays, with operations targeted to begin in late 2028.

The site will also include a multi-level administration and support building, engineering spare parts and materials stores, a power station, canteen and training facilities, creating an integrated base maintenance hub designed to support future expansion. Sustainability features incorporated into the design include smart building systems for power monitoring, LED lighting, electrified ground support equipment and wastewater management measures.

The facility is expected to create more than 1,000 highly skilled jobs and support local aviation talent development through structured training programmes. HAECO said it has already recruited Vietnamese personnel who are currently undergoing training at its Xiamen facilities ahead of the facility's opening.

HAECO group chief executive Richard Sell said: "By combining HAECO's global MRO expertise with the complementary strengths of our partners, we are creating a high-quality, independent maintenance facility that will support airline customers in Vietnam and internationally, while contributing to skills development, capability building and the long-term growth of the country's aviation ecosystem."

The Vietnam announcement forms part of a broader expansion programme for HAECO's airframe services division, backed by more than US$1 billion (approximately €839 million) in investment over four years. This includes a new LEED Platinum-certified airframe facility in Xiamen scheduled to open by the end of 2026.

Once the Vietnam facility enters service, HAECO expects its global network to comprise 31 widebody and 10 narrowbody hangar bays, delivering around 10 million base maintenance man-hours annually while supporting the creation of approximately 2,000 additional jobs across local communities.

Explore the full scope of HAECO's Vietnam joint venture and what it means for aircraft maintenance capacity across Asia-Pacific.