Aircraft, all China’s moves to compete with Boeing and Airbus
The regulatory authorities of China have given the first ok to Comac's C919 aircraft. All the details and ambitions of Beijing
China celebrates because the country's regulatory authorities have given the first green light to the C919, the medium-haul commercial aircraft assembled in China (albeit with a strong presence of Western components) with which Beijing is now aiming to break the Boeing duopoly – Airbus.
The certification
Built by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC) as part of a project started in 2007 and penalized by many delays, the C919 was certified Thursday in an official ceremony held at the Capital Airport.
The competition with Boeing and Airbus
COMAC was set up by the state precisely to compete with Boeing and Airbus models and, in addition to the C919, it also produced the ARJ21 and CR929 aircraft. The C919 aims directly to compete with the most popular models in the aviation market, namely the Boeing 737 MAX and the Airbus A320.
Among other things, a research report by Galaxy Securities shows how the list price of the C919 is equal to 99 million dollars, therefore less than its direct competitors.
Characteristics of the model
The new model boasts a space capable of accommodating from 158 to 168 passenger seats and has a range of between 4,075 and 5,555 kilometers, equivalent to those that can be traveled by Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s.
As COMAC's chief engineer told the Global Times , most of the C919's performance indicators are comparable to that of its direct competitors, and the aircraft is even better in terms of aerodynamic design.
Self-sufficiency goal not yet achieved
The location rate of the C919, understood as the share of components produced at home, is around 60%. In fact, Reuters notes , the C919 relies heavily on components including engines and avionics that are supplied by companies such as GE, Safran and Honeywell International.
The first model, out of a total of 5 ordered, will be delivered at the end of the year to China Eastern Airlines which plans to make it operational within the first quarter of 2023 on the routes from Shanghai to Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chengdu. COMAC has already received 815 orders from 28 customers, including Air China, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Gecas.
The ceremony with Xi
For this important moment for the Chinese aviation industry, a meeting was organized in the solemn setting of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing between Xi Jinping and a delegation of project managers, greeted by the Chinese President as "heroes of the people".
Xi said he sees the development of China's first long-haul aircraft as the embodiment of the country's drive towards self-sufficiency and noted how its launch "accelerates the construction of a manufacturing giant."
"We must strive to climb the global peak of science and technology with ambition," were the words of the Chinese President.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/cina-aereo-c919/ on Mon, 03 Oct 2022 07:02:55 +0000.