China’s premier, state-owned aircraft manufacturer has announced a supercharging of production for its flagship aircraft at a recent supplier conference. Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) is upping production primarily for domestic travel and a handful of partnered airlines. This is a part of COMAC’s long term strategy to escalate their challenge to the Boeing-Airbus duopoly in commercial aviation and advance the Chinese economy.
COMAC aims to make 50% more C919 aircraft annually—from 50 to 75 units. Eventually they intend to produce 200. COMAC CEO Shen Bo emphasised that they have entered the stage of ‘large-scale industrialisation’. The Chinese government is looking to ride the wave of its own aviation transport boom. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) aims to have built 216 new airports between 2018 and 2035. Additionally, Boeing predicts that by 2043 China will overtake domestic North-American travel as first place in terms of passenger traffic. Much like their road vehicle and train industries, the Chinese government is aiming to foster a healthy local aviation manufacturing industry to tap into the lucrative, multi-trillion dollar market themselves.
To commit themselves to this initiative, COMAC has announced a 70% increase to its yearly procurement budget. This is a much-needed boost to combat the dominance of Boeing and Airbus in manufacturing single-aisled aircraft.
COMAC and Asian aviation
All of China’s major airlines have placed orders, with interest in Hong Kong and Vietnam to use COMAC aircraft.
The Chief Operations and Service Delivery Officer of Cathay Pacific, Alex McGowan, is keen to see the developments:
“We very much view the development of a Chinese-made, world-class aircraft as an extremely positive thing for the entire industry. We are very pleased to share our experience and contribute to Comac’s development, and will certainly continue to build strong relationships with them through ongoing conversations and cooperation.”
However, a deeper look reveals a more complicated picture. All of the major orders within China come from companies also owned by the Chinese government or who install the engines. Most foreign orders came from countries with deep economic links to China, and the aircraft has received little interest from Western airlines.
However, it is impossible to deny the growing influence such a corporation with such backing can and most likely will have on the developing domestic flights of China and the Chinese economy at large. The Chinese government’s mission for self-sufficiency has led them to industry dominance in the past. It may well do so again. Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
