China’s Efforts to Preserve Airworthiness While Opening their Market to Used Parts Could Serve as the Catalyst to the Digital Documentation Paradigm the Industry has Been Desiring

China’s new regulations on the import of used aircraft parts are changing the way the industry tracks the provenance of these parts. The CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China) has partnered with AFRA (Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association) to create a system that traces the parts back to the aircraft they were removed from. This system is intended to prevent the introduction of counterfeit or unapproved parts into the Chinese aviation system. The CAAC is also working to create a database that will track these parts, making them easier to trace and potentially creating a precedent for a more digital system of tracking aircraft parts. The CAAC is hopeful that this system will be successful in China and that other countries will follow suit.