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

Starting pretty much now Air France will add two evening flights per week on its Shanghai-Paris route. The move takes the total number of flights between the two cities to 12 each week.

The new flights will be operated with Boeing 777-200 planes, with three classes of service and 263 seats in total.

Frank Legre, general manager of Air France China, said in a statement plainly written by a PR, ‘The additional flights are a further proof of our commitment to Shanghai and our determination to offer a better service to our customers.’

Air France will fly seven day flights and five evening flights between Shanghai and Paris each week. This is not including the airline’s code-sharing flights between the two cities, which are operated by China Eastern which could well try and emulate the in-cabin service of Air France.

Air France currently runs 42 weekly flights between four Chinese cities and France.
Source: Shanghai Daily