In May 2007, 11 airport shuttle buses made by Xinfa Airport Equipment Ltd. (Xinfa) were shipped to Europe from the Chinese Port of Tianjin. This was the first batch of domestic produced airport shuttles to be exported. Since then, exports of Chinese-produced airport equipment have increased, and Xinfa vehicles are now sold into over ten countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. As the major transmission supplier, Allison has played a key role in Xinfa’s global sales growth.
Today, 90 percent of Xinfa’s proprietary products have Allison transmissions, building on a cooperation that started in 1997 when Xinfa was founded. According to Zhang Xiaodong, the R&D manager of Xinfa, the two companies have a good ongoing relationship, spanning from the initial product trials to today which sees Allison’s 2100 and T270 Torqmatic® Series transmissions fitted as standard in Xinfa vehicles.
“Allison automatic transmissions have a wide power range and excellent configuration which simplifies the integration of the driveline and vehicle body to make the operation very easy,” says Xiaodong.
Zhang Xiaodong cites the benefits of an Allison transmission in relation to the special requirements for airport shuttle buses, which are required to operate 24 hours a day, seven days per week. At Beijing Capital International Airport, for instance, each bus needs to transport passengers between the terminal and the parking apron over 70 times a day. These shuttles are the largest passenger carriers at the airport beside the aircrafts themselves. A shuttle must run no more than 40km/h with maximum passenger carrying capacity of 20 tonnes. Vehicle breakdowns cannot be tolerated and with the extremely high workload and safety requirements, the most critical criteria for an airport shuttle is reliability. This is exactly why Xinfa chose Allison.
“Passenger transport is a special area with stringent safety and security requirements, and even more so within the sensitive environment of an airport,” adds Xiaodong. “Against this background, we must choose the best and most reliable components in making our vehicles.”
Another characteristic of an airport shuttle is that it has few seats and therefore most passengers must stand. So, smooth driving is essential. Allison’s planetary gear set enables an uninterrupted power supply and exceptionally smooth gearshifts, providing a safer environment for passengers.
“We have to minimise the jolting of passengers by ensuring smooth starts and driving — a comfortable ride experience that an Allison automatic transmission can deliver. Besides that, airport equipment requires much more than manoeuvrability. The bus needs to park near the aircraft in a precise way, and Allison’s torque converter enables full control at low speeds for easy and convenient operation of the vehicle,” explains Xiaodong.
Mr. Qiu Ke, sales director of Xinfa, notes that Xinfa’s products have been exported to many countries in Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, Asia and Africa. In international markets, bus operators not only value a product by its performance, but by the quality and reach of aftersales service. The fact that Allison’s global customer service network helps keep Xinfa executives’ minds at ease is another reason for Xinfa’s choice of Allison Transmission as a key supplier to its exported products.
“Allison’s products have established a good reputation worldwide by leveraging their superior reliability and efficiency. Allison is trusted by numerous export-oriented Chinese OEMs that are enjoying robust growth in their exports today. Allison regards cooperation and growth together with Chinese enterprises developing their international markets as one of its strategic goals,” said Paula Chen, Allison’s Marketing Manager for China buses, SE Asia, and Australia.
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