The MHI Aerospace Vietnam Company Ltd, (MHIVA) on September 14 put the first commercial aircraft component production plant into operation in the Bac Thang Long Industrial Zone in Hanoi.

The plant has commenced production of flaps for the Boeing Next-Generation 737 of the US Boeing corporation.

MHIVA, capitalised at 11 million USD, is the first company in Vietnam to manufacture and ship aircraft components. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) of Japan .

The 4,500 sq.m production plant went on-line with 50 local employees who underwent an 11-month training programme in Japan on aircraft component production to master the assembly work for the 737 flaps.

As scheduled, in the two years 2009 and 2010, MHIVA will produce flaps for from two to eight planes each month and will increase that to 10 planes by 2011./.