Comac C919
The Comac C919 is after the Comac ARJ21 (until 2009: ACAC ARJ21 ), the second twin-jet passenger aircraft, which was fully developed in the People's Republic of China and will be built beginning in 2016 by the Consortium Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China ( Comac ) there.
Development
This is currently under development model C919 -200 will have a capacity 156-168 seats. The planned dimensions correspond with a length of 38.6 m and a span of 35.4 m largely the medium-range models of the Airbus A320 family and the Boeing 737, which Comac thus occurs in the Chinese market in direct competition in particular. The first models will be equipped with engines of Western manufacturers. Medium term, however, the consortium aims to domestic engine production.
The development budget for the C919 program is around 8.3 billion U.S. dollars. Comac plans 2016 and 2017 production figures of five to ten aircraft for years. By 2020, annual output could rise to up to 150 pieces.
According to experts, the program will be delayed by up to two years and could thus lose sensitive to competitiveness against competing models retrofitted by Airbus and Boeing, the A320neo and 737 Max.
Naming
The term " Comac C919 " was deliberately chosen. "C " stands for ( the People's Republic of ) "C" hina, which can also be found in the second C from the company Comac; at the same time by a proximity to the two major manufacturers Airbus and Boeing in the sense of peer ABC implied. Numbers play an important role in Chinese culture. The first digit "9" Eternity (Chinese永恒yǒnghéng ) Accordingly represents. The last two digits " 19" stand for " 190 ", the planned maximum number of seats for this aircraft type. The possible versions C929 and C939 enlarged sister have a correspondingly larger number of seats.
Orders
It is assumed that the Chinese domestic market for aircraft over the next two decades will grow very strong. Boeing and Airbus are not to increase the current production and the current orders for long periods of time in a position, the production volume for much larger aircraft. Here you can see the Chinese manufacturers, not least for political reasons, a chance to build a separate market for the C919. Early on, was published in the Chinese media that the production of the C919 will be initially connected to significant losses that are to be taken up by government subsidies. This points to the enormous importance of the project for the Chinese government.
The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China has collected the first orders for its single-aisle C919 program. On the opening day of the Airshow China in November 2010 in the South China Zhuhai, the consortium announced the receipt of the first 50 firm orders with as many options for the aircraft. Among the purchasers are the three largest national Airlines, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern and Air China, obtained up to 20 C919. However, the People's Republic of China has committed its state-controlled airlines to order at least 20 pieces of the model.
In 2012, the consortium was able to record a total of 115 new orders for the model; with a further order for 20 C919 by the Industrial Bank Financial Leasing are stand November 2013 400 firm orders.
Engines from CFM
China wants to use engines from CFM, a joint venture between General Electric and Safran / Snecma. The ordered engine LEAP -1C is based on a further development of today's CFM56 engines. Not for the course, however, came to the U.S. rival Pratt & Whitney, who campaigned with his completely new engine with special gear for fuel economy by the Chinese. The Chinese engage in direct competition with Airbus and Boeing with the new C919 model for around 150 passengers. Both companies expect from the C919 supplement with a sales volume of each around five billion dollars. In the long term could rise to $ 25 billion by volume. Industry experts speculated that CFM with its Leap -1C possibly secured the contract by dumping prices, because it was striking that at that time no other manufacturers chose the engine, while Pratt & Whitney already had several customers for its new concept of the Geared Turbofan.
International cooperation
China has also realized how important it is for the country, not to depend solely on foreign manufacturers, and accelerating the development of its own, independent aircraft production with considerable effort. As the Chinese aircraft industry only since the early 2000s focused on the production of large civil aircraft, which can also be seen in the multiple re-organization of the company, need to build up its own aircraft industry important key products such as engines and avionics are still imported from foreign manufacturers. For example, the German manufacturer Liebherr Aerospace will supply chassis and ventilation systems.
In March 2012, the Boeing Company and Comac announced to cooperate in the field of fuel efficiency. For this purpose, a research center named Boeing COMAC Aviation Energy Conservation and Emissions Reductions Technology Center to be built in Beijing.