HAECO was officially established in November 1950, following the merger of PAMAS and JAMCo. In its first decade of operation, HAECO trebled its turnover and workforce. The company’s offerings grew as it introduced overhaul services for turboprop aircraft and built its first engine test bed.
Highlighting its success, HAECO was floated on the Hong Kong stock market in 1965. Meanwhile, capacity development continued. By 1965, HAECO was fully equipped to service the Convair 880M introduced by Cathay Pacific Airways, and in 1968 the company began the construction of Asia’s largest aircraft maintenance hangar.
In the 70s, the era of the jumbo jet brought more changes. HAECO broadened its capabilities to encompass a range of widebody aircraft and jet engine types, such as the L1011 TriStar series equipped with Rolls-Royce RB211 engines. The company became an official member of the Swire Group when Swire Pacific increased its shareholding to 51% in 1975.
HAECO’s high standards and rapid turnaround times on major overhaul contracts saw an increasing amount of business from international airlines, including its first aircraft conversion - upgrading a L1011-1 Tristar to a L1011-150.
The 90s saw the formation of HAECO’s joint ventures, including TAECO in Xiamen and HAESL in Hong Kong. In 1998, HAECO relocated to a brand new HK$1.4 billion facility at the then-new Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) in Chek Lap Kok.
HAECO opened its second hangar at HKIA and began work on its third. It also opened additional MRO and component facilities in Singapore and Bahrain as well as in Xiamen and Jinjiang, China. 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 Airways.
The future is looking bright for HAECO Group, whose growth continues. In early 2014, HAECO acquired TIMCO Aviation Services, adding North American MRO airframe and cabin solutions to its portfolio. Additional operations were also launched in Hong Kong, Xiamen, Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Tianjin, Nanjing, Chongqing, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Harbin, Ningbo and Hangzhou. On 30 November 2018, HAECO becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Swire Pacific.
Over 70 years, HAECO has evolved from a small MRO in Hong Kong operating with limited post-war resources into one of the world’s leading aircraft engineering and maintenance groups. The exciting story of the company’s development directly reflects many of its core values, including technical expertise, operational excellence, service innovation and integrity, as well as the company’s ever-present ‘can-do’ spirit.
HAECO’s roots predate the company’s official birthday, reaching back to the years immediately following World War II when the Swire Group identified the aviation industry as an area of great potential. With no experience in aviation but every confidence in the expert engineering skills gained in the Taikoo Dockyard, Swire formed the Pacific Air Maintenance & Supply Company (PAMAS), which would later merge with Jardine Air Maintenance Company (JAMCo) to become HAECO.
Despite limited resources, the HAECO team's hard work and resourcefulness, along with growing demand, made HAECO an instant success. The company quickly began building on its capabilities, responding to the ever-changing demands of its customers, which included the inimitable Cathay Pacific Airways. HAECO soon began to spread its wings in Asia, opening new facilities across the region.
Today, HAECO is a global provider of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services, with significant operations throughout the Asia Pacific region, North America and other parts of the world. As the aviation industry continues to grow and evolve, HAECO looks towards the next 70 years with every confidence that its adaptability, vision and determination to meet the needs of its customers will ensure a bright future.