Evektor Successfully Passes LSA Audit for China

The rush is on — hardly a surprise to anyone these days — regarding China’s emergence into general or recreational aviation. Investors in the country are buying iconic aviation brands with increasing frequency it seems and more companies in the LSA space are rushing to join the party. They join a growing flock of home-grown producers (see earlier report). No wonder. With China’s economic growth, new freedom to fly at least in some airspace, and keen interest in flying one’s own airplane, the business possibilities appear large. While established countries remain mired in economic sluggishness, China’s star shines brightly. Add those factors to the much lower price of purchasing a Light-Sport Aircraft and you can see why companies are jumping on the bandwagon.

The newest company to succeed in gaining Chinese approval is Evektor and their SportStar LSA models. The Czech company reported, “Evektor successfully passed an audit by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) at its production plant in Kunovice, Czech Republic.” Chinese auditors focused on quality assurance and inspections as well as Continued Operational Safety Monitoring. These key safety areas are subject to close review by FAA as well and indeed Evektor has also successfully completed audits by U.S. auditors and those from EASA in the last year. “It means Evektor is fully approved by CAAC for further deliveries of Light-Sport Aircraft to the Chinese market,” the company concluded. Congratulations, Evektor!

“In August 2012 Evektor gained type certification from CAAC for its worldwide popular pilot training and leisure flying SportStar aircraft, which had become the very first FAA approved aircraft in the US LSA category,” observed Petr Javorsky, Executive Director of Evektor-Aerotechnik (second from left in nearby photo). Since Evektor has both a CAAC production certification and SportStar type certification, the company meets all the requirements of the CAAC for importation of the SportStar to China. Now a new task begins: expanding marketing activities in China and searching for sales partners in the country. Evektor has aircraft flying in more than 40 countries and some 1,200 Evektor aircraft have been delivered.