Beijing-based Embraer China Aircraft Technical Services, which was inaugurated in July, has been named an Embraer-authorized service center and will support Tianjin Airlines. It is the first airline in China to be so designated. Under the terms of the agreement the Chinese company will carry out line and heavy maintenance for the ERJ-145 and E190 in accordance with China Civil Aviation Regulation Part 145. Tianjin Airlines, a subsidiary of the HNA Group, was originally named Grand China Express and was the launch customer of the E190 in China. According to an Embraer spokesman, the airline also operates the biggest Embraer fleet in Asia with 27 E190s and 21 ERJ-145s in service. Tianjin also has a firm order backlog for 27 more Embraer aircraft. “Our company sees this new partnership as a great advancement. We started with regional aviation, later we integrated both trunk line and regional flights with additional international services, and now we enter the aircraft maintenance area. We’ll be happy to share our knowledge and success with other Embraer operators,” said Li Weijian, chairman and president of Tianjin Airlines. Currently, 74 Embraer aircraft are operating in China.