Orders pour in for jumbo jets to be made in China
By Zha Minjie |
November 14, 2012, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
The manufacturer of China's C919 jumbo jet yesterday secured 50 orders for the country's first commercial passenger jet at the 9th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in the southern city of Zhuhai, mainly from domestic buyers, boosting total orders to 380.
Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, or COMAC, also signed a deal with defunct Eastern Air Lines, announcing tentative purchase plans by investors said to be planning to resurrect the US-based airline that went bankrupt in 1991.
There have been sporadic reports of efforts to relaunch the airline, whose forked logo was seen on display as a backdrop to yesterday's signing ceremony at the show which attracted a record 650 exhibitors.
Once led by former World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker and later by former Apollo astronaut Frank Borman, Miami-based Eastern Air Lines rose to become one of the largest airlines in the world before losing a battle against low-cost competition.
"We are still a young company. The start-up investment has not been finalized yet," Jack Shi, senior vice president for commercial development of Eastern Air Lines, told Reuters.
He said the airline was shopping for planes to start services late next year from Miami to unspecified destinations in Latin America.
Shi said that, once reborn, Eastern wanted to be the first operator to fly COMAC jets in the United States just as it had introduced the European Airbus there.
Tian Min, COMAC's chief accountant, said that the market for narrow-bodied jumbo jets would be "huge" in the next 20 years.
The C919 is due to make its first flight in 2014 and enter service within two years after that, according to COMAC.
The Eastern Air Lines deal came on the heels of 50 C919 orders - 20 aircraft each from Joy Air and Hebei Aviation Group and 10 from General Electric Capital Aviation Services.
US-based GE Capital Aviation Services, the only foreign customer signing deals for the plane, also ordered 10 aircraft at the 2010 air show.
It isn't just ordering the C919s to support the program, Liu Li, its China general manager, told Bloomberg News.
"The world aviation market is so big and there's only two major makers," Liu said. "There is also a rising middle class, which will spur air travel."
Other potential C919 customers that have signed tentative agreements include Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair and British Airways, said COMAC.
Its assembly plant in Shanghai is expected to be able to produce 150 jumbo jets a year by 2020.
The company is already building ARJ regional jets at the plant near Pudong International Airport and four planes are currently on test. It plans to make 50 such jets a year by 2014.
The assembly lines for the jumbo jet, which are still under construction, are due to be complete by the end of this year.
Jiang Liping, chief engineer with the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Company, said the base will have five main production lines which will assemble parts produced by other manufacturers in China.
China will need 4,960 commercial planes over the next 20 years, representing a value of US$563 billion, Xinhua news agency said yesterday, citing COMAC.
COMAC also forecast that China would require 4,273 "large" passenger planes between now and 2031.
The forecast for all commercial planes is lower than an estimate by US giant Boeing in September that said 5,260 commercial jets would be needed.
COMAC also said air passenger volume in China would grow more than 7 percent a year over the next two decades.
Chinese airlines carried 292 million domestic passengers last year, an increase of 9.2 percent from 2010, according to official figures.
The C919 will compete with Boeing and Airbus in the medium-range sector - 70 percent of China's market.
European consortium Airbus had 853 planes in service in China by the end of October, about half of China's total fleet of aircraft with more than 100 seats, the company said at the show. It plans to deliver 120 new aircraft, mainly A320s, to Chinese airlines this year.
Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, or COMAC, also signed a deal with defunct Eastern Air Lines, announcing tentative purchase plans by investors said to be planning to resurrect the US-based airline that went bankrupt in 1991.
There have been sporadic reports of efforts to relaunch the airline, whose forked logo was seen on display as a backdrop to yesterday's signing ceremony at the show which attracted a record 650 exhibitors.
Once led by former World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker and later by former Apollo astronaut Frank Borman, Miami-based Eastern Air Lines rose to become one of the largest airlines in the world before losing a battle against low-cost competition.
"We are still a young company. The start-up investment has not been finalized yet," Jack Shi, senior vice president for commercial development of Eastern Air Lines, told Reuters.
He said the airline was shopping for planes to start services late next year from Miami to unspecified destinations in Latin America.
Shi said that, once reborn, Eastern wanted to be the first operator to fly COMAC jets in the United States just as it had introduced the European Airbus there.
Tian Min, COMAC's chief accountant, said that the market for narrow-bodied jumbo jets would be "huge" in the next 20 years.
The C919 is due to make its first flight in 2014 and enter service within two years after that, according to COMAC.
The Eastern Air Lines deal came on the heels of 50 C919 orders - 20 aircraft each from Joy Air and Hebei Aviation Group and 10 from General Electric Capital Aviation Services.
US-based GE Capital Aviation Services, the only foreign customer signing deals for the plane, also ordered 10 aircraft at the 2010 air show.
It isn't just ordering the C919s to support the program, Liu Li, its China general manager, told Bloomberg News.
"The world aviation market is so big and there's only two major makers," Liu said. "There is also a rising middle class, which will spur air travel."
Other potential C919 customers that have signed tentative agreements include Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair and British Airways, said COMAC.
Its assembly plant in Shanghai is expected to be able to produce 150 jumbo jets a year by 2020.
The company is already building ARJ regional jets at the plant near Pudong International Airport and four planes are currently on test. It plans to make 50 such jets a year by 2014.
The assembly lines for the jumbo jet, which are still under construction, are due to be complete by the end of this year.
Jiang Liping, chief engineer with the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Company, said the base will have five main production lines which will assemble parts produced by other manufacturers in China.
China will need 4,960 commercial planes over the next 20 years, representing a value of US$563 billion, Xinhua news agency said yesterday, citing COMAC.
COMAC also forecast that China would require 4,273 "large" passenger planes between now and 2031.
The forecast for all commercial planes is lower than an estimate by US giant Boeing in September that said 5,260 commercial jets would be needed.
COMAC also said air passenger volume in China would grow more than 7 percent a year over the next two decades.
Chinese airlines carried 292 million domestic passengers last year, an increase of 9.2 percent from 2010, according to official figures.
The C919 will compete with Boeing and Airbus in the medium-range sector - 70 percent of China's market.
European consortium Airbus had 853 planes in service in China by the end of October, about half of China's total fleet of aircraft with more than 100 seats, the company said at the show. It plans to deliver 120 new aircraft, mainly A320s, to Chinese airlines this year.
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