ARJ21-700's maiden flight

The ARJ21-700, a homegrown commercial regional jet powered by a turbofan engine has made its maiden flight in Shanghai.

The country’s first independently developed regional jet completed its maiden flight in Shanghai on Friday, marking a major stage in China’s civil aircraft manufacturing industry.

The ARJ21-700, a homegrown commercial aircraft powered by a turbofan engine, rolled off production lines in December last year at the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory.

The 90-seat jet has a standard full-passenger flight capability of 2,225 km and a maximum flight capability of 3,700 km.

The jet’s maiden flight was successfully completed an hour later, with all testing procedures carried out.

The ARJ21 does not have passenger seats built in during the testing phase, but will be able to carry passengers within 18 months.

The Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory has an annual production capability of 20 ARJ21 jets and the goal is to assemble 50 jets each year in Shanghai alone.

ARJ21 is an acronym for “Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century”.
Source: China Daily

Air China Cargo flight being loaded

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing and Air China Cargo have announced the carrier’s cargo fleet is to be expanded with three 747-400 Boeing Converted Freighters.

The modification work on the three Combi aircraft includes the addition of a side cargo door, a strengthened main-deck floor, full main-deck lining installation, provisions for a new cargo handling system and complete revisions to the aircraft systems with positions for 30 pallets on the main deck and will take place at Taikoo Aircraft Engineering (TAECO) in Xiamen, China.

Air China Cargo has eight freighters in operation at present,
including three 747-400 Freighters, three 747-200 Freighters
and two other 747-400 Freighters on lease.
Source: TradingMarkets

Zizhu Science Industrial Park

The Shanghai government has just signed a deal with China’s biggest aerospace company to build a national-level base in the city. The deal will help realize the country’s ambition to develop its own aerospace industry.

The two sides will also form a venture in Shanghai to design and make aircraft engines for domestic and overseas plane makers, the municipal government and AVIC, the Aviation Industry Corp of China.

The aviation-industry base will be set up in the Lingang Development Zone in southeastern Nanhui District.

Lin Zuoming, president of AICC, said the venture, which will be mainly focused on engine production for commercial flights, will develop engines for China’s first 150-seat passenger plane and may eventually make parts and equipment for overseas aircraft as well.

The venture will start with two departments, an aerospace engine-research center and an assembly center.

The research center will be based in the Zizhu Science Industrial Park in Minhang District and the assembly center in Lingang.
Source: Shanghai Daily

Industry information technology minister, Miao Wei

China Aviation Industry Corporation, the newly-created state aircraft maker created from AVIC 1 and 2, plans to acquire a foreign general aviation aircraft maker. The idea it to further extend its technology capabilities.

Tan Weidong, president of AVIC’s general aviation unit is quoted as saying the deal is expected to be closed by the end of the year.

Tan did not identify the acquisition target or disclose the size of the acquisition when speaking at an airshow in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai. He added AVIC, which aims to develop 20- to 30-seat business jets and turbo-prop hydroplanes, will go public in the near future.

Also at the airshow, Miao Wei, the country’s industry and information technology minister (seen here) said the country planned to spend several hundred million RMB in the next five years to develop large aircraft which should be on the market before 2020.

Meanwhile, China has signed up a total of 208 orders for its first self-developed regional jet ARJ21, unveiled in late 2007.
Source: International Herald Tribune

Sukhoi Superjet 100

If China buys the new Russian regional aircraft, the Sukhoi Superjet 100, then Sukhoi could open a logistic center in Beijing and increase its representative staff. Sukhoi’s deputy general director Sergei Sergeyev made this statement, which sounds like a sales plug, at the international Airshow China 2008.

He said, ‘If we have the Sukhoi Superjet 100 project here, we will certainly widen our representation to provide logistical support for our plane in this territory. In the future, we might consider opening a logistics center in China.’

A company official said, ‘There is still a long way to go, but we know how Boeing and Airbus are being active and productive on this market. Our task is to gain approximately the same foothold.’ Which means that Sukhoi has a long way to go as the office in Beijing only has three full-time employees

Sergei Sergeyev said, ‘We have very good contacts with our Chinese partners. We now have a much better understanding of their problems, and they, in turn, got to know us closer. So both of us are comfortable working here.’
Source: iStockAnalyst

ARJ21 700 Chinese regional 70 seat jet

General Electric is the company that is to buy five Chinese regional jets, with an option to purchase 20 more. The deal could be worth up to $750 million.

This marks the first overseas order for China’s major aircraft manufacturer, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, and a milestone in the country’s long-term ambitions to become a rival to Boeing and Airbus.

A GE representative told the paper that the deal for five 70-seat ARJ21-700 regional jets was struck at the Zhuhai air show and is currently being finalized.

In a sense this is not an overseas sales for GE plans to lease the aircraft to China’s domestic carriers for use within China. GE supplies engines for the ARJ21 line of jets. China’s next challenge is to finalize deals with overseas customers that are not involved in the jet’s production.

Beijing this year announced plans to produce a 150-seat jetliner that would compete directly with Boeing and Airbus by 2020.
Source: Wall Street Journal

ARJ21-700

China will sell 25 jets to a US company in a ‘breakthrough’ deal that marks the country’s entry into the big-plane market dominated by European and US players.

China’s homegrown  ARJ21-700 regional jet, which rolled off the production line on December 21 last year will be exported to the US.

The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, which developed the ARJ21-700 regional aircraft independently, will sign a RMB5-billion ($735 million) contract on this week according to the Guangzhou Daily.

The deal, to be inked on the opening day of the 7th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, proves China’s homemade aircraft have won international recognition.

The ARJ21, an acronym for Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century, is China’s first homemade regional jet.

The ARJ21 can carry 70 to 110 passengers, and rolled out of a Shanghai factory in December last year. It has yet to take its maiden commercial flight and get a certificate from the US-based Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The ARJ21-700 has a maximum range of 2,000 nautical miles, and is scheduled to take its first commercial flight by the end of November
Source: China Daily

Embraer Express Jet

The world’s third-largest aircraft manufacturer, Embraer, said the mainland will need a further 883 regional aircraft over the next 20 years. Embraer vice president Guan Dongyuan told reporters,’China has an undeveloped market for regional and corporate jets given that they account for just a fraction of the total number of aircraft in the country.’

He added that Embraer would post US$400 million in sales in China this year compared to US$150 million last year. There are currently 70 jets serving regional destinations in China.

Larger rivals Boeing and Airbus have previously estimated that China will require more than 3,000 large aircraft over the next two decades.
Source: South China Morning Post (Subscription required)

A new Chinese developed turbo-prop passenger aircraft successfully performed its first test flight with passengers  Chinese media reported last week.

Xinzhou-600 turbo-prop

The test flight of the Xinzhou-600 aircraft, carrying journalists and businessmen, lasted for approximately 10 minutes over the Tianjin International Airport.

Chinese media reported that the flight marked the end of the monopolization of China’s civil aviation market by foreign developed aircraft.

The new aircraft can carry a maximum of 52 or 60 passengers, depending on its configuration, and has a maximum range of 1,600 kilometers. The aircraft is intended for domestic flight use.

Xinzhou-60 aircraft are expected to enter the market in 2009. Contracts for the acquisition of 30 aircraft, as well as 10 leasing contracts, have already been signed.
Source: Interfax

Where have all the passengers gone?

China is undergoing a slowdown in airline traffic and car sales as the financial slump starts to pinch.

Carlos Gomes, economist at Bank of Nova Scotia, cut his forecast for U.S. auto sales to 13.7 million vehicles this year and 13.5 million units next year, saying Americans have little room to spend on big-ticket items because they’re already heavily indebted.

The latest evidence that China’s transport boom is hitting a wall came when the International Air Transport Association released figures showing Asia Pacific carriers had a 3.1% year-over-year drop in passenger traffic in August after a 0.5% decline in July. International freight traffic among the region’s cargo airlines, measured in freight tonne kilometres, fell 6.8%.

Analysts say the Games may also be responsible for a 6.2% drop in Chinese motor vehicle sales in August, the first decline in more than two years. The theory is that buyers shied away from dealerships and stayed home to watch TV instead.

GM executives are still predicting annual auto sales growth in China this year of about 12%. They argue the slowdown, also a result of a government-mandated hike in gasoline prices, won’t last.
Source: The Financial Post