A model of C919 made by Commercial Aircraft Corp of China is displayed. The State-owned company expects to build 2,000 C919s over 20 years. (Bloomberg News)
Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, also known as Comac, will be at the Singapore Air Show, displaying a model of the 168-seat C919, which is designed to compete with the Boeing Co 737 and Airbus SAS A320. Only one major supplier has been selected for the plane so far, a GE-Safran SA engine venture, which won a $10 billion contract.
State-owned Comac expects to build about 2,000 C919s over 20 years, and hopes to secure 10 percent of the global market, according to Safran. The aircraft is already being touted as a domestic success since the government will place orders and allocate them to State-owned carriers Air China, China Southern and China Eastern Airlines.
“There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that China can be a first-tier aircraft provider at some point,” said Clay Jones, CEO of Rockwell Collins, a maker of cockpit instrumentation. “Everyone sees the market as being important in the future and everyone wants to play in it.”
Rockwell, GE, Honeywell International Inc, Goodrich Corp and United Technologies Corp’s Hamilton Sundstrand are among the aerospace companies competing to work on planes in China. Munich-based MTU Aero Engines Holding AG has already been chosen to help develop future engines for the C919. Separately, Airbus has also set up a plane-assembly plant in the country.
China wants to cooperate with overseas suppliers to access advanced engines, parts and instruments for the C919, which is due to make its maiden flight in 2014 and to enter service two years later. The aircraft is part of China’s bid to end its reliance on Airbus and Boeing. Eventually, the country also wants to challenge the world’s two biggest plane makers overseas. – read more at ChinaDaily.com…
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