Xian MA60
| MA60 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Air Zimbabwe MA60 at OR Tambo International Airport in 2007 | |
| Role | Turboprop airliner |
| Manufacturer | Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation |
| First flight | 25 February 2000 |
| Introduction | August 2000 with Sichuan Airlines |
| Status | In production |
| Primary users |
Merpati Nusantara Airlines Okay Airways Joy Air |
| Produced | 2000–present |
| Number built | 80 delivered + 210 ordered (March 2013) |
| Unit cost |
US$11-12 million
|
| Developed from | Xian Y-7 |
| Variants |
Xian MA600 Xian MA700 |
The Xian MA60 (新舟60, Xīnzhōu liùshí, "Modern Ark 60") is a turboprop-powered airliner produced by China's Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation under the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). The MA60 is a stretched version of the Xian Y7-200A, which was produced based on the An-24 to operate in rugged conditions with limited ground support and has short take-off and landing (STOL) capability.
The airplane received its type certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China in June 2000. The MA60 has not applied for FAA(US) and EASA(Europe) type certification, and is not certified for use in the European Union or the USA. The general designer of MA-60 series is Lü Hai (吕海).
As of October 2006, XAC has received over 90 MA60 orders. The factory had delivered 23 MA60s by the end of 2006, and expects to deliver an additional 165 by the end of 2016.
In March 2014, 53 MA60 are in service and 14 are stored:
As of May 11, 2015, there have been 13 accidents involving the MA60. One accident was fatal (MZ8968) resulting in 21 passenger and 4 crew deaths. This caused for instance New Zealand to go as far as suspending tourism aid to Tonga and warned tourists about flying the aircraft which had been gifted to the country.
The New Zealand Government suspended its programme of development aid to Tonga's tourism industry in July 2013 after a MA60 donated by the Chinese Government was delivered to the airline Real Tonga. In August 2013 the New Zealand Government also issued a statement advising tourists to not travel on Real Tonga's MA60 on the grounds that "this aircraft has been involved in a significant number of accidents in the last few years", and the type "is not certified to fly in New Zealand or other comparable jurisdictions". Real Tonga ceased operating the MA60 in early 2015 after the Tongan Government passed legislation adopting New Zealand's civil aviation regulations. A proposal to re-establish Royal Tongan Airlines to operate the MA60 was reported later in the year.
Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 2003–2004
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