China and Russia are to invest up to US$20 billion to develop a long-haul, wide-bodied jet, reports and a company statement said yesterday, as Beijing seeks to challenge leading Western manufacturers Boeing Co and Airbus Group SE.
The hugely ambitious plan was first agreed between the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC, 中國商飛) and Russia’s United Aircraft Corp (UAC) — whose products include the Sukhoi Superjet 100 — in June when Russian President Vladimir Putin met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing.
COMAC said in a statement that the joint venture, to be set up in Shanghai this year, would develop a 280-seat, wide-body plane with a range of 12,000km.
Photo: Reuters
That would put it in direct competition with Boeing’s 787 and the Airbus A350.
The project is worth between US$13 billion and US$20 billion, with each side contributing half, China’s state-run Global Times newspaper yesterday quoted UAC president Yury Slyusar as saying.
COOPERATION
“COMAC has outstanding technology and designs and we will not only cooperate in technology, but also in intellectual property,” Slyusar told the newspaper at the China Airshow in the southern city of Zhuhai, adding that the plane would be 10 percent cheaper than its competitors.
According to the companies’ Web sites, the list price of a 280-seat Airbus A350 is US$272.4 million, while a 290-seat Boeing 787 costs US$264.6 million.
Their putative China-Russian rival is to make its first flight in seven years’ time, COMAC said, with deliveries beginning three years later.
Developing commercial aircraft is an advanced technological challenge and previous Chinese aerospace projects have experienced lengthy delays.
COMAC said it would keep the project open and select global suppliers that are willing to “jointly shoulder risks.”
Beijing is looking to build up its domestic aerospace industry, with the sector among those highlighted in its “Made in China 2025” plan.
The country is expected to become the world’s largest aviation market, with its travelers taking to the skies in ever-growing numbers.
DEVELOPMENTS
Airbus estimates China will need nearly 6,000 new planes worth US$945 billion in the next two decades, with Boeing’s forecast even more optimistic at more than US$1 trillion.
COMAC is also developing its own single-aisle jet, the C919. It rolled it out last year and even though it has yet to make its first flight COMAC says it has so far received 570 orders from 23 customers.
The firm’s regional jet, the 90-seat ARJ21, flew its first commercial flight in June after years of delays.
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