Hunan's low-altitude equipment is accelerating its export to the sea, and "Made in Zhuzhou" is flying to the world

China News Service, Zhuzhou, Hunan, November 7 (Feng Jun) The fuselage is made of carbon fiber and can fly when filled with ordinary 95 gasoline. It can take off and land on lawns and simple runways... With its flexible and easy-to-use features, the Arora aircraft produced in Zhuzhou, Hunan, China, received an order from the Mexican YEO company and was delivered ten days ago. This is the first time that Sunward Star Aviation Industrial Co., Ltd. has exported aircraft to Latin America.

"Since the beginning of this year, the company has signed nearly 30 new export orders, achieving significant growth compared with previous years." Deng Yu, general manager of Sunward Star Airlines, said that the Arora aircraft is China's first light sport aircraft to obtain triple international airworthiness certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the United States FAA, and the Australian Civil Aviation Administration. A total of nearly 500 aircraft have been delivered globally and have been exported to the United States, Australia, Italy, and Southeast Asia.

In May 2026, Arora aircraft performed a flight demonstration in Qinghai. (Photo courtesy of Shanhe Star Navigation)

Customs data shows that in the first three quarters of this year, Hunan Zhuzhou’s aerospace equipment exports were 420 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.1%.

Nine out of every ten small and medium-sized aircraft engines in China are produced in Zhuzhou. Zhuzhou's small and medium-sized aircraft engine cluster was selected as China's national advanced manufacturing cluster, gathering more than 120 upstream and downstream enterprises, covering the entire process of R&D and design, parts manufacturing, complete machine manufacturing, navigation operations, and maintenance support.

The core of this industrial cluster is what is often referred to in the industry as "one factory, one institute": China Aviation Development Hunan Power Machinery Research Institute (Motion Research Institute) is mainly responsible for design, and China Aviation Development Southern Industrial Co., Ltd. (Southern Company) is mainly responsible for manufacturing tasks.

"The engine is the heart, and the entire aircraft is the carrier." Deng Yu said that relying on the design capabilities of the Institute of Motion Technology, the manufacturing capabilities of Southern Company, and the entire aircraft platform of Sunward Star Airlines, Zhuzhou has formed a complete chain of intra-city collaboration of "engine design-manufacturing-integration of the entire aircraft-test flight verification", laying the foundation for local aviation products to go overseas.

In October this year, Hunan Xinyi Intelligent Technology Development Co., Ltd. exported its first batch of drone accessories to Canada for use in the field of agricultural drones; China Rhenium New Materials Co., Ltd. continues to supply high-purity rhenium materials to global aviation engine companies.

Shen Yubing from the Development Planning Department of the Institute of Animal Science and Technology said that in addition to domestic airworthiness qualifications, "one factory, one institute" is promoting international airworthiness certification work to pave the way for products to go overseas. In early 2026, the two units joined forces with multiple parties to form a general aviation power company to promote the market-oriented operation of the civil aviation power business.

Today, Zhuzhou has formed an overseas echelon of aircraft engines, complete aircraft, supporting parts, and special materials. However, when low-altitude equipment goes to sea, it still faces challenges such as different airworthiness certification standards in different countries, different airspace rules, and complicated customs declaration of navigation equipment. To this end, the local government provides supporting services in customs declaration, trade compliance and other aspects, and promotes the reconstruction and expansion of Lusong General Airport to help create a national low-altitude economic demonstration zone.