Not too much should be made of this for in the aviation industry worldwide it is a far too common situation. China may postpone the maiden flight of the ARJ21, or Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century, its first passenger jet, by at least four months because of supplier delays.

The flight, scheduled for this month, is now likely to take place in July or even later.

The jet uses parts from Rockwell Collins, Honeywell, Parker Hannifin, United Technologies. and General Electric.

The ARJ21 is the first step in China’s ambition to become a global aircraft maker and capitalize on a domestic market forecast to need as many as 3,400 new planes in the next 20 years.

Chen Jin, vice president of Shanghai-based AVIC I Commercial Aircraft, said ‘We’re still doing assessments, and if the results show that certain things aren’t up to standard, then we may have to delay.’

The ARJ21 will enter a regional-jet market dominated by Bombardier Inc. and Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA. The ARJ21 will be priced similarly to the $30 million Embraer 175 jet.

Engineers are still conducting ground tests and experiments on the ARJ21.

Song Yiping, Shanghai-based ARJ21 project manager for Rockwell Collins said, ‘I would guess that some Western-supplied systems may be behind schedule,’ said . ‘There are rumors that one or two suppliers might be delayed.’ Rockwell Collins, which is supplying electronics, is on schedule.

Every component supplier issued a statement saying their deliveries were going to schedule. But as Mandy Rice-Davis famously said, ‘They would say that, wouldn’t they?’

Looking ahead, the Chinese government and its aerospace companies AVIC I and AVIC II plan to invest ‘tens of billions of yuan’ in a company to design and build a 150-seat jetliner within the next decade, AVIC II President Zhang Hongbiao said in Beijing.

According to Boeing, China, the world’s second-largest air travel market, may need as many as 3,400 new planes in the next 20 years.
Source: Bloomberg

China’s self-developed commuter aircraft, the Modern Ark 60 (MA60), has received new purchasing or leasing orders of 20 aircraft to make its total orders to 116.

The China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC1) said its subsidiary, Xi’an Aircraft Industry, has signed contracts with Yunnan Ying’an Airlines and AVIC1 Leasing Company for the purchase and leasing of the 20 MA60 twin turbo-prop commuters.

Of the 20 planes, ten are purchasing and leasing contracts while the other half are orders of intent. The first ten planes will start to be delivered in May 2008.

MA60 is the most successful civil aviation aircraft developed by China so far. It has a maximum take-off weight of 21,800 kg and a seating capacity of up to 60 passengers.

The XAC said the plane’s reliability, comfort, economy and maintainability reach the standards of similar advanced commuter aircraft in the world.
Source: China View

The China Aviation Industry Corporation I (Avic I) and the China Aviation Industry Corporation II (Avic II), the two largest aircraft producers in the country, are discussing co-operation plans for a jumbo plane project near Shanghai.

Jin Xingming, a deputy to the National People’s Congress said the Shanghai government, aviation companies and some other state-owned enterprises will jointly invest in and establish the jumbo plane company under the guidance of the central government.

Feng Peide, a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political advisory body, said it would be a great challenge for the company to build jumbo planes in a relatively short time. ‘The goal could only be achieved with iron will.’

Chinese airlines will need another 1,800 jumbo passenger planes in the next decade which means it has a market ready and waiting.

By definition a jumbo passenger plane is one with a take-off weight of more than 100 tonnes, or with more than 150 seats.

Currently, only the United States, Russia, France, Germany, Britain and Spain have the capability to build jumbo aircraft. Most of the business is run by Boeing and Airbus.

The production of jumbo aircraft is strategically significant for the country although it already builds many major parts of jumbo aircraft completely creating its own version is a much further step.
Source: CargoNews Asia

China Eastern, the nation’s third-largest carrier, has won official approval to establish a regional airline called Happy Airlines. (The name sounds a bit daft but so did EasyJet and Virgin the first time you heard them.)

The Beijing News reported that China Eastern will invest RMB400 million ($55.8 million) and take 40% in the new company, which will cater to west China’s middle and low-end tourist market.

The rest of the airline will be owned by the state-owned China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I), manufacturer of China’s first home-made passenger airliner ARJ-21.

The new airline will be based in Xi’an Xianyang International Airport in the country’s northwest and expects to hire transport plane pilots from the air force.

The newspaper said there are a handful of Chinese air companies running regional airlines, whose services are in huge demand but suffer from low profitability.

It further said, without elaboration, that China Eastern expects the new company to get beneficial treatment by the government. Beijing wants to boost the economy in the west to tackle unbalanced regional development. Note the illustration has nothing to do with the airline but this might be the image it wants to convey with its name.
Source: Economic Times

There is a clear understanding in Beijing that the best way for China to achieve its ambition in civil aviation — namely to build its own fleet of commercial craft — is to work in partnership with Airbus and Boeing, rather than flying solo or partnering with Russian companies.

Beijing has employed this strategy over the last 20 years or so, working with both Airbus and Boeing to produce components and sub-assemblies as a first step on the long road to manufacturing its own indigenous aircraft.

According to Boeing’s forecast, China will demand many more aircraft over the coming 20 years than Boeing had initially expected in 2006. Boeing predicts that between 2007 and 2026, China will purchase 3,400 new aircraft worth US$340 billion, while Rolls-Royce foresees a demand for 3,100 aircraft over the same period.

As a result, domestic demand on the Chinese aviation industry to excel and deliver domestically built aircraft will only increase. In conjunction with the development of commercial carriers and civil helicopters, skills in the Chinese aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) sector are rising rapidly.

AVIC I’s Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory operation, which is responsible for the final assembly of the ARJ21 civil craft, will become part of a listed company, AVIC I Commercial Aircraft Corporation (ACAC), whose shares will be sold in China and on foreign stock exchanges.

The operation of Xian Aircraft Industry Corporation will be reorganized as a listed business that will later become the core of a civil manufacturing group encompassing the civil facilities at the Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation and Shenyang Aircraft Industry Corporation.

The author of this long and detailed article is Dr Eugene Kogan who is a guest researcher at the Research Institute of the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin. He is a defense industry analyst with expertise on Russia, Eastern Europe, Israel and China.

The full article first appeared in The Jamestown Foundation and is used by Asia Times with permission. To read the quite extensive and very clearly written piece click on Source. It forecasts a seriously important growth period for the China aviation construction industry.
Source: Asia Times