COMAC C919
- Thread starter Deino
- Start date
Kinda, the article that @tphuang linked to states the C919s are going to a majority-owned subsidiary, Suparna Airlines. HNA in this case is with respect to the group rather than the airline directly
HNA is a well know airline group with Hainan airline as the flagship airline that does more long haul flights
They had financial difficulties during covid, so it's great that their subsidiary are still able to buy planes right now
They had financial difficulties during covid, so it's great that their subsidiary are still able to buy planes right now
by78
General
High-resolution images of the second C919 delivered to China Eastern for commercial operation.
As of July 12, the first C919 had carried out a total of 87 commercial flights, including two Beijing-to-Shanghai flights and 85 Shanghai-to-Chengdu flights, for a total of 250 flight hours, with an average passenger occupancy of 80%.
As of July 12, the first C919 had carried out a total of 87 commercial flights, including two Beijing-to-Shanghai flights and 85 Shanghai-to-Chengdu flights, for a total of 250 flight hours, with an average passenger occupancy of 80%.
Looks like, Hainan Group (HNA) would operate in total 60 unit COMAC C919 for their 2 Airlines (30 unit for Suparna Airlines & Another 30 for Urumqi Airlines)
Cannot wait to see COMAC C919 flying with Red (Suparna) & Purple (Urumqi) livery
Cannot wait to see COMAC C919 flying with Red (Suparna) & Purple (Urumqi) livery
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Neither narrowbody counterpart of the duopoly features fuselages or other substantial aerostructures made with composite materials. Wrt fuel consumption, there's been some debate on this in this thread before but I agree with @Tirdent that the indications are the plane's empty weight is moderately more than intended (configuration considerations aside), so when it's running LEAP engines just like the duopoly's, it likely burns a little more fuel for a similar spec
There is naturally development potential to rectify this. A new generation that fits composite wings as was originally envisioned should help a lot (brought up because I don't think Boeing has the money to develop one in response atm). If the CJ-1000 can be developed to achieve superior fuel efficiency vs the LEAP or GTF that locks in a C919-exclusive advantage (goes without saying that it's way too early to pin hopes on this)
But I generally don't think technical superiority is a necessity to win international orders, especially when we're not talking about a substantial discrepancy. A cheaper unit cost vs the duopoly and easy financing from Chinese bank affiliated lessors should go a long way in making up for slightly higher operating costs
Don't forget delivery time. An A320 ordered today might not be delivered for quite some time.
While not actually an easy factor to get right off the bat, you can also try innovating on the service model, since that’s a big input factor to operating costs. If you offer high performance low cost servicing airliners might gladly take a slightly less efficient plane.