Chinese Aviation Industry
- Thread starter FriedRiceNSpice
- Start date
China's aircraft production by year according to IHS Janes. The aerospace industry in China really took off after 2008. With the number of programs now being undertaken in China and maturing in the years to come this number is only going to grow. And China in 2014 only build about 160 planes ? This is according to IHS Janes the high end estimate of Chinese aircraft production.
Look out, Boeing! China’s new C919 plane which aims to take on the famous 737 and Airbus A320 will begin test flights this year
By Laurie Hanna For Mailonline
Published: 22:56 +11:00, 4 March 2015 | Updated: 01:13 +11:00, 5 March 2015
- The C919 superjet will take on giants of global aviation - Boeing's 737 and the Airbus A320
- Designed and built in China, final construction is now underway in Shanghai
- More than 450 orders for the high-tech aircraft are already in place from 18 different airlines
China's new superjet will take to the skies for the first time in test flights later this year.
The C919, built by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), will be the country's most ambitious effort to date to break into the global aircraft market.
The latest pictures have shown the final assembly work on the nation's first single-aisle airliner, which is currently under construction in Shanghai, is well underway.
The single-aisle twin-engine jetliner has been designed to go head-to-head with Boeing's 737 and Airbus A320 in the lucrative aviation market.
Assembly of the first prototype airframe is almost complete, says , with the main landing gear and forward landing gear also now installed.
Some major works - such as the installation of the avionics, flight control and hydraulics systems - are still to be completed.
The various systems will then have to be fully integrated and rigorously tested before the test flight, which is scheduled to happen before the end of this year.
The various parts of the aircraft - including the nose, front and middle fuselage, wings and tail sections - were designed by the corporation and manufactured in Chengdu, Shenyang and Harbin.
COMAC are reported to have already secured more than 450 orders from 18 different customers, most of which are believed to be local airlines and leasing firms.
The manufacturer is targeting 2017 for C919 certification, with first deliveries also scheduled for that year.
China is keen to develop a successful commercial aircraft to prove it can match the developed industries of the United States and Europe.
Airbus has forecast that China's domestic aviation market will become the world's biggest within the next decade.
China’s air-passenger traffic will increase 8% annually from 2013 to 2032 - compared with an expected global annual growth rate of 4.8% - as many more affluent Chinese passengers take to the skies.
It is hoped that an official date for the first test flight will be announced in the near future.
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asif iqbal
Lieutenant General
Wow I love the front and cockpit looks very modern and very sleek !
SinoSoldier
Colonel
"if its anything like the junk they export to sell in the wests shops, no chance"
"From a peoples that mixed melamine in their babies milk."
"Comes with a 5 minute guarantee."
"Thanks, I'll walk..."
"Will not get me flying in anything if Made in China ."
broadsword
Brigadier
Those comments don't piss me off, unlike those on consumer goods. The aircraft will come with FAA certification and the first few hundred jets are going to be in service with domestic airlines, giving them a track record to speak for itself.
SamuraiBlue
Captain
I doubt there will be many initial international orders.
Initial cost of the plane is only one factor for an airliner which wants to lower the overall lifetime cost of the plane. This includes duration of down time for maintenance waiting for spare parts to arrive. The longer the down time in idle the less the plane carries paying customers the less profit the plane makes. Unlike the already established manufacturers COMAC still needs to develop distribution centers and training centers around the world if they are really aiming for the global market.
These day it's not just the raw specs of a product but totality in service that sells products.
Initial cost of the plane is only one factor for an airliner which wants to lower the overall lifetime cost of the plane. This includes duration of down time for maintenance waiting for spare parts to arrive. The longer the down time in idle the less the plane carries paying customers the less profit the plane makes. Unlike the already established manufacturers COMAC still needs to develop distribution centers and training centers around the world if they are really aiming for the global market.
These day it's not just the raw specs of a product but totality in service that sells products.
Blackstone
Brigadier
I see Nigeria, Iran, and some ASEAN countries buying the ARJ21 and the C919, after a few years of spotless records by domestic Chinese airlines. Indeed, the ARJ21 should sell well in developing countries, especially after it passes FAA certification. C919 could build on ARJ21's success and do just as well.
SamuraiBlue
Captain
I am only making predictions based on established marketing theories so we'll just need to wait and see the actual outcome to play itself out.
The airliners that mainly fly to China may not have any problem in adopting COMAC planes but Nigeria would probably purchase AB products since it's much more geologically as well as commercially closer to Europe. For Iran it's more political then commercial. They may consider Russian planes from that point.