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Further Reading

C919 Large Airliner

The C919 was first mentioned in China's 11th 5-Year plan, released in March 2006. Initially, the goal was to produce the plane for military and civil purposes by 2015, with entry into commercial service in 2020. However, China has since moved up the later date to 2016. The aircraft will be assembled in Shanghai and, like the ARJ21, will have parts sourced globally. However, COMAC has indicated that many foreign suppliers will be required to participate in the project through joint ventures with Chinese manufacturers and to conduct a significant amount of the manufacturing in country. As of 2009 COMAC was still in the process of selecting suppliers for the C919.

Airbus and Boeing aircraft designations begin with the first letter "A", "B", and the Chinaese large aircraft types to be known as "C919? shows China's determination to compete with Airbus and Boeing aircraft. The letter "C" in the title of the country's first homegrown jumbo jet is said to stand for "China" as well as "COMAC", while the first "9? implies "forever" in Chinese culture and the "19? stands for the jet's maximum 190 seats. Because the aviation industry has been dominated for many years by giants Airbus and Boeing, the situation on the market is known as the "AB" pattern. But with the development of C919, the global "ABC" competition may come into being.

The People's Republic of China is investing significant resources to become a competitor in the civil aircraft industry. With its regional jet program in the flight testing phase, the Chinese are embarking on a new program to develop a 150-seat narrow-body aircraft that would compete with aircraft currently sold by Boeing and Airbus. The effort to create a competitive civil aircraft production program in China is in part motivated by growth in domestic demand for air transportation, which should lead to orders for over 3,770 new aircraft by 2028.1 Attempts to capitalize on this demand have led established manufacturers to engage Chinese suppliers in various joint ventures while simultaneously eyeing the Chinese as future competitors.

The official state news agency Xinhua announced China's intention of building an LCA and offering it for delivery by 2020. A Cabinet meeting held on February 26, 2007 approved in principle the implementation of a formal production program. If successful, global LCA producers would face new competition from a domestic Chinese manufacturer.

In 2008, China undertook a major reorganization of its aerospace manufacturing enterprises. In May 2008, China established the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) to oversee the development and production of a large civil aircraft now called the C919. COMAC was given responsibility for most of China's commercial aircraft programs, including the ARJ-21 regional jet.

China's transition to a competitive producer of commercial jet aircraft and engines will be aided by its large and growing domestic aviation market, providing a ready market for new indigenous aircraft. China's has the world's fastest growing domestic aviation industry, with air traffic increasing at a rate of 7.9 percent per year. Given that there are only about 1,325 commercial jets operating in China (compared to roughly 7,000 in the United States), industry analysts predict that Chinese airlines will need to add over 3000 large- and medium-sized aircraft to their fleets over the next two decades to meet this demand.

The aircraft will be designed and assembled in Shanghai, but will source parts and components globally, which is a model adopted by the two air dominant groups, Boeing and Airbus, according to Wu Guanghui, chief designer of the program and deputy general manager of COMAC. "We will choose international suppliers through bidding. But priority will go to foreign suppliers that design and manufacturer products with domestic companies in China," he said at the November 2008 air show in Zhuhai of south China's Guangdong Province.

On 30 May 2008 a top official from European aircraft maker Airbus said it was negotiating with its Chinese counterparts to join China's jumbo jet manufacturing program, which was officially inaugurated in Shanghai on 11 May 2008. "I'm sure we will expand our business in China, although some factors might make China our competitor," said Laurence Barron, Airbus China president, in an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Friday at the 18th Asian Corporate Conference of Asia Society. "Not a single country could make a plane on its own. The generator, instruments and even the oil used by Airbus all come from different partners. China need such support."

China's previous failed attempts to copy the Boeing B707 during the 1970s, co-produce the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 during the 1980s and 90s, and then start a similar sized airliner with European firms during the 1990s, should not lead to conclusions that China will fail again. Unlike the previous periods, today China has a developed market of airline infrastructure and about 600 Boeing and Airbus airliners, and growing demand that can be used to subsidize domestic airline production. Chinese aircraft companies have also been co-producing components for successive Boeing and Airbus airliners, and by 2008 Airbus hoped to assemble its first A320, building to a rate of four a month, which is in the same class of airliner China now intends to build. That facility actually delivered 11 aircraft in 2009.

Guangdong Changsheng Aircraft Design Co Ltd, a private company backed by a real estate developer, plans to become a shareholder in a joint stock company that will take charge of China's large commercial aircraft project. The private company wants to do the conceptual and aerodynamic design of the new aircraft. Guangdong Changsheng Aircraft Design Co., Ltd. (referred as "Changsheng") is a private company, which is established in 2006. It has exhibited the design plans of two series large jet aircrafts. One of them is CS 2000. CS is not only the first capitals of Changsheng, but also the China Star in English. CS 2000 is 200-300 seats dual aisle large aircraft. The other plan is CS 2010, which is a 150-200 seat single aisle aircraft. According to the decision of State Council on February 26th, 2007, the registration of large aircraft should be operated with joint venture form. The joint venture company will charge the research, manufacture and sales of the large aircraft. At the same time, China encourages social capital and private capital. As a private enterprise, Changsheng is established to join national large aircraft project, including investment, technical support, and enjoying some core research. Guangdong Changsheng has about 30 aircraft designers and engineers. Eight of them used to be major designers of China's Y-10 passenger jet and the ARJ21 regional jet. The Y-10 was developed by China in the 1970s, but never entered commercial service. The ARJ21 is now in final assembly and will begin service in late 2009.

In early 2007 Jin Qiansheng, deputy director of the administrative committee of Xi'an Yanliang State Aviation High-tech Industry Base, said the home-developed "jumbo" aircraft will be assembled in both Shanghai and Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Though the project was still in the initial planning phase, Xi'an was expected to shoulder about 50 percent of the manufacturing workload for jumbo airliners and 60 percent for airfreighters. The Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense disclosed that Shanghai will be the assembly base when it announced last week that the country would launch jumbo aircraft manufacturing. "Yanliang will also play a key role in developing the country's own jumbo aircraft. It is the only national aviation industry base, and it has China's strongest aviation research and development team," Jin said at an ongoing investment and trade forum in Xi'an. Yanliang is also responsible for producing the wings and fuselage of China's innovative new regional jet, the ARJ-21. "China's jumbo aircraft will initially target the domestic market. But the ultimate aim is to compete with Boeing and Airbus on the international market." Jin said.

Technological advancement of China's aviation industry has been directly related to cooperation and investment from international firms. On the one hand, western companies have sourced parts from China for several decades. Most major aerospace manufacturers outsource limited volumes of metalwork to Chinese machine tooling shops, due not only to lower labor rates but also to the wide availability of the latest tooling technology.

The aircraft engine issue is always the bottleneck of China's aviation manufacturing industry and large China-made aircraft which will be launched in 2016 will adopt imported CFM engines, but will adopt China-made engines in the future. CFM International, a venture between GE Aviation and Safran SA of France, won the contract to provide its LEAP-X engine for the aircraft. COMAC selected CFM's advanced new LEAP-X engine as the sole western powerplant for the C919 in December 2009. The two companies are nearing the completion of the joint definition phase and CFM is on schedule to freeze the LEAP-X design by the end of 2011 and the first full LEAP-X engine will go on test in early 2013. COMAC has opted for a complete Integrated Propulsion System (IPS) for the C919. CFM will provide the engine and, in partnership with Nexcelle, the nacelle and thrust reverser to deliver a complete IPS solution to COMAC.

In April 2010 US Aerospace firm Hamilton Sundstrand won a $1 billion long-term contract to provide the electric power generation and distribution systems for China's first single-aisle C919 aircraft, beating rivals including General Electric Co. Hamilton Sundstrand will form a joint-venture partnership with Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) System Co Ltd to develop and manufacture the electrical system. Hamilton Sundstrand is a key supplier on COMAC's 90-seat ARJ21 regional jet, including the electric power, high-lift actuation and fire protection systems. The company is one of a clutch of aviation suppliers that was awarded a contract for the C919 project, China's largest domestically manufactured jetliner.

Honeywell International Inc got a $7.3 billion order to supply auxiliary power units and related equipment for the C919 project, while Parker Hannifin Corp won a contract for at least $2.5 billion for components including fuel and hydraulic systems. COMAC also chose Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse SAS to supply C919's air management system, and chose Goodrich to supply the exterior lighting system. The four suppliers will all establish joint ventures with local partners for the project, according to the letter of intent signed on 14 April 2010 in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. Parker Aerospace, a business segment of Parker Hannifin Corporation, the global leader in motion and control technologies, was selected by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC) to supply fly-by-wire flight control actuation system for the new COMAC C919 large aircraft. Parker Aerospace will also be responsible to provide the hydraulic, fuel, and inerting systems for the C919.

The C919 large airliner fullscale display prototype was unveiled 15 November 2010 at Zhuhai airshow. This showed the prototype is the C919 cockpit and the cabin side, 17 m, height 5.6 m, width 3.96 m. Display prototype display, C919 large aircraft using streamline modeling of contour design, cockpit and cabin features designed to "comfort" as a principle, cabin luggage, and other design elements into China.

It is understood that the C919 aircraft will be basic, form a lengthened, shortened form, freight type, special-shaped, official-series models. Display prototype manufacture is the development of large passenger aircraft C919 pre-release development stage of an important element, the Visual display of the aircraft structure and image, to lay the foundation of market development work. At the same time, the C919 large passenger aircraft, the main system equipment suppliers have basically selected, as at the end of September, 2010 China business fly company has completed a total of 14 major system 38 working package signing of letter of intent. October 2010, China's fly company formally presented to the Civil Aviation Administration of China C919 airliner model certificate applications for large, model development work will be based on the airworthiness of evidence as the main line.

In February 2010 Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), the manufacturer of China's first large passenger aircraft C919, projected an ambitious plan to sell over 2,000 C919 jetliners within the next 20 years. The 168-190 seat narrow-body aircraft, similar to the Airbus A320 family and Boeing 737, will take its first flight in 2014 and get certified in 2016.

In November 2010 the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) signed startup client agreements with six Chinese and foreign enterprises for the C919 large passenger aircraft. The contract parties include Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines, which make up China's three key civil air transport companies. It also includes Hainan Airlines, China's fourth largest airline, CDB Leasing, China's financial leasing company with the largest registered capital and assets and the earliest company to develop the aircraft-leasing business, and U.S.-based GECAS Company, an important company in the world that specializes in the aircraft-leasing business and owns 1,450 aircraft. COMAC acquired order forms for 100 units of the C919 aircraft.