Utah real estate deal, nixed over China connection, was for flight school

PROVO, Utah (KUTV) — A real estate deal, “stopped” by the state before take-off because of a company’s link to China, was apparently for a flight school near the Provo Airport.

The Utah Department of Public Safety revealed the plans for the real estate deal Friday in response to 2News’ questions about the transaction.

“To DPS’s knowledge, the intention was a flight school,” said Hillary Koellner, spokeswoman for the department. “Cirrus Aircraft is majority-owned by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), a restricted foreign entity under Utah code.”

MORE | Provo Airport:

AVIC, headquartered in Beijing, is also reportedly on a list of companies sanctioned by the U.S.

No one has identified the specific property that Cirrus, an airplane manufacturer based in Minnesota, wanted to buy in Utah County.

2News tried to reach a Cirrus sales and marketing VP on Friday to no avail, and it emailed questions to the company through its website, including:

• Would it reveal the property?
• Would a Cirrus site near the Provo Airport be a threat to Utah or the country?
• Where will its planned Utah project now go?

“I don’t think foreign countries should be owning land in the United States,” said Devon Allen, who went to college at UVU and flew into the Provo Airport for a family reunion.

“We should be careful about selling land to other countries,” said a woman at the airport who did not want to be named.

“And entities connected with governments of other countries?” 2News asked.

“Yes, yes,” she replied.

“There’s plenty of American company owners who would be willing to open up the same business, have the same land,” said Sean Terry, from Texas.

Provo also released a statement on grounding the deal.

“The City of Provo supports the state’s enforcement of Utah Law and the Governor’s commitment to protecting strategic infrastructure,” it said. “Provo Airport welcomes aeronautical businesses that can contribute to the aviation community while operating in full compliance with federal, state, and local requirements.”

Cirrus, it seems, was open about its Utah plans.

“Cirrus reached out, proactively through the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity and the Attorney General’s Office, which brought DPS in to investigate,” said Koellner. “It was found that AVIC, a known government entity for the People’s Republic of China, was the parent company of Cirrus. The company was informed that if it moved forward with the purchase, it would be in violation of state statute, and subject to the repercussions of such a violation.”

___