On July 13th, during the visit of the delegation led by Hu Zhen Jiang, Deputy Administrator of CAAC to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (ESEA), the Y12F twin-engine turboprop commuter aircraft, developed by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) Harbin Aircraft Industry Group Co., Ltd, received type certificate from ESEA. This is the second time for it to receive a type certificate issued by a foreign authority following the type certificate issued by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on February 22nd, 2016, on the basis of the type certificate issued by CAAC on December 12th, 2015. This new development for Y12F marks a successful practice of CAAC and ESEA on the China-EU Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement and is of great importance to bilateral airworthiness cooperation between China and Europe. It also indicates that Y12F will further increase its global presence.
Y12F aircraft, with a maximum take-off weight of 8.4 tonnes, can carry up to 19 passengers and is widely used in passenger and cargo transportation, maritime surveillance, air dropping, aerial photography, geological exploration, medical rescue, artificial precipitation, etc.
In the meanwhile, CAAC completed the type approval review of the Airbus Helicopters’ EC175B helicopter and issued the certificate. On April 7th, 2023, the Joint Declaration between the People’s Republic of China and the French Republic proposed that the two sides welcome the enhancement of cooperation between CAAC and ESEA and will accelerate the airworthiness certification process on the basis of mutually recognized international safety standards. The completion of the Y12F aircraft and EC175B helicopter certifications represents an effective implementation of this declaration.
