Comac Aircraft - The country took a big step forward in 2008 with the formation of state-owned COMAC (the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China). This brought together several smaller manufacturing and aeronautical companies across China, with the objective to manufacture large jet aircraft.
Journalist - With almost a decade of experience in the publishing sphere, Justin has built up a deep understanding of the issues facing aviation today. With a keen interest in route development, new aircraft, and loyalty, his extensive travels with airlines such as British Airways and Cathay Pacific have given him a profound direct understanding of industry matters.
Comac Aircraft
Based in Hong Kong and Darlington, UK. Public Joint Stock Company United Aircraft Corporation (MCX:UNAC.ME) is a Russian publicly traded company that is one of the most advanced airplane manufacturers in the world. The firm makes the Tupolev, Illyushin, and Superjet lines of civilian and cargo aircraft alongside its well-known Sukhoi line of fighter jets.
The C - Narrowbody
Experts also say that even once the C919 is ready, the aircraft will be less fuel efficient with worse technology than either the Airbus A320 or Boeing 737 Max, making the COMAC planes a tough sell to airlines.
But state pressure may make up for some of COMAC's deficiencies. Korea Aerospace Industries, Ltd. (KRX:047810.KS) is a South Korean company that is made up of the former aerospace divisions of some of the country's largest chaebols.
Currently, the firm produces supersonic trainer aircraft, turboprop training aircraft, and piston engine trainers. It is also licensed to upgrade Boeing's 737, has been involved in F-16 production, and is designing a multi-role, stealth, and supersonic fighter jet.
Safran SA (EPA:SAF.PA) is a French firm that forms a crucial part of the aircraft supply chain. The firm makes and sells critical airplane components such as landing gears, wheels, engine nacelles (pods or covers), avionics, wiring, fluid management systems, software, and most important of all, engines.
Selling The Aircraft
COMAC expects China's government to certify the C919 jet later this year, according to Chinese state media. After that, COMAC will need to complete additional test flights and train pilots and crew to use the aircraft, a process that could extend COMAC's official C919 launch into 2023 or 2024.
Tempting customers away from Boeing and Airbus could be hard. They are well established, not just with sales relationships but also with networks and suppliers of parts and maintenance. This will be a significant challenge, especially if larger aircraft are to be able to operate globally.
While the ARJ competes more with smaller, regional aircraft, the aim of COMAC was to take on Boeing and Airbus in larger aircraft. The C919 is the first step to doing this, competing much more closely with the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 families.
The most likely initial customers would be in South East Asia or Africa. China already has strong trading relationships, and aircraft sales could build on this. Price could also be a big influencer. Looking further ahead is difficult, especially with the uncertainty coming out of 2020. But the market has not always been controlled by two manufacturers, and if COMAC aircraft perform well and continue to improve, they could offer stiff competition.
Comac Aircraft Naming
Embraer S.A. (NYSE:ERJ) is a Brazilian company that is headquartered in Sao Paulo. It primarily makes and sells small aircraft that can carry between 66 and 146 passengers. In total, the firm has seven different civilian commercial aircraft with active production lines.
Embraer S.A. (NYSE:ERJ) also makes and sells military and private jets, and is known for its role in making the renowned JAS 39 Gripen fighter. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (NSE:HAL.NS) is an Indian state-owned aircraft company. The firm makes all kinds of aircraft, ranging from fighter jets, to trainers, and passenger jets.
One of its trainers has been flying for three decades, and the firm expects its first regional airliner to be in service by 2026. Dassault Aviation Société anonyme (EPA:AM.PA) is a French aircraft company that makes and sells business and fighter jet aircraft.
Its Falcon family of business jets has almost a dozen models, and the fighter jet arm is known for the highly reliable and popular Mirage aircraft as well as the Rafale - one of the few fifth generation fighter aircraft in the world.
The Arj - Regional Jet
Leonardo S.p.a. (BIT:LDO.MI) is an Italian aviation and aerospace company. The firm builds the Eurofighter Typhoon - Europe's backbone fighter jet - in partnership with Airbus and BAE Systems as well as the ATR turboprop regional propeller aircraft.
C919 aircraft is the first jet type trunk liner independently developed by China in accordance with international airworthiness standards and owning independent intellectual property right. C919 aircraft has a layout of 158 to 192 seats, and a range of 4,075 to 5,555 kilometers.
So far, the project demonstration, feasibility study and pre-development have been completed, the program enters the engineering development phase. The first aircraft rolled out on November 2nd, 2015. On May 5th 2017, C919 made the first test flight.
C919 aircraft obtained Type Certificate from Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on September 29th, 2022. At the same time, demand for conventional aviation is also booming, with Boeing's chief executive officer (CEO) Mr. Matt Welch sharing an update during the firm's fourth quarter of 2022 earnings call held in January 2023.
The Rise Of Comac
Welch sounded optimistic about his company's future, sharing that demand was strong across Boeing's portfolio, as he explained that: COMAC, a state-run aerospace manufacturer, has long had ambitions of challenging U.S. airplane maker Boeing and European maker Airbus.
Some analysts refer to the C919 as China's "divorce jet" because it represents China's hopes to use the aircraft to ease the country's dependence on Boeing and Airbus. But COMAC has struggled to deliver on the C919 jet—a narrow-body, medium-range airliner similar to the Airbus A320 or Boeing 737 Max—after years of delays.
Last year, C919's launch was postponed again as COMAC struggled to import parts. COMAC depends on U.S. manufacturers like Honeywell to import critical components for the C919 aircraft. But in late 2020, the U.S. Government banned tech exports to COMAC due to the firm's alleged military ties.
On the order front and on the market side, we continue to see very strong demand across the portfolio. More than 800 net orders on the year, driven by the 737 MAX and the 787, highlighted most recently by the very historic deal with UAL, United Airlines in December.
Comac Vs Boeing And Airbus
In 2022, we sold 200-plus net wide bodies. That's the most since 2018. More broadly, the 737 MAX team has made tremendous progress. Fleet is performing exceptionally well. Production is stabilizing, demand is strong. We delivered 1,000-plus 737 MAXs in total now.
And since our return to service, the fleet has surpassed 3 million flight hours. It's safe and it's the most reliable of the airplane fleets. Production, we've all gone from 0 to 31 a month and we're prioritizing stability, which we have not yet achieved, but we're on a steady course to do so.
Commercial aircraft manufacturing today is dominated by Boeing and Airbus. But this was not always the case and probably won't be again in the future. Among the other companies, Chinese manufacturer COMAC stands out with its range of aircraft under development and planned - both narrowbodies and widebodies.
This article takes a quick look at these new aircraft. And orders, more than 1,500 gross orders to date. 737 MAX returning to service in China is another indication of this overall improvement in our business.
Comac C Launch Date Delays
This month, of course, we all know that, that happened. We have more airplanes on the Tarmac in China to bring back into service just as we did here in the U.S. before we begin any deliveries of any sort.
As a starting point for our list, we first listed all publicly traded companies that make planes and selected them through market capitalization. Then, private or state-owned firms were added to the mix, and the resulting curation was ranked through the latest revenue statistics available.
However, some firms that are major players but whose revenue is not available are also included. When it comes to high technology, the aircraft industry ranks right at the top of the food chain, alongside semiconductor fabrication and astronautics.
The modern day jet aircraft - whether civilian or military - has hundreds of thousands of parts which are often shipped from all over the world for final assembly into the beast that takes to the skies.
How far the new aircraft competes with Boeing and Airbus will depend a lot on international sales. Almost all orders so far have been from Chinese airlines. This is no small market, though. As Simple Flying recently reported, Boeing estimates that China will need $1.4 trillion of new aircraft over the next 20 years.
Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) is the parent company of Textron Aviation, which is one of the largest small aircraft manufacturers in the world. Textron Aviation has been making planes for decades and has built more than two hundred thousand to date.
As is the case with nearly every high tech industry, perhaps except semiconductors, Polaris Market Research also highlights that North America was the largest aircraft manufacturing market in 2021 with a large demand for next generation airplanes fueling the growth.
However, despite being the largest, North America will not be the fastest growing sector, as this title will go to Asia Pacific which is fueled by the growing populations of India and China spurring demand and increasing the need for planes to fly people around.
It's early days for the CR929, with construction still to start. And no order details have yet been released. A lot rests on joint Russia and China cooperation. There have already been challenges here, and there are some suggestions it may get worse.
Post-pandemic Russia is looking to reduce spending on aviation, and it's likely the Chinese market will be much more lucrative for sales. But there are some positive signs of closer collaboration and more knowledge sharing as well.
Other variants of the CR929 are planned, but the timeline is not yet clear. There will be a smaller variant with a lower capacity of around 250 and an increased range of 14,000 kilometers. And a larger variant will stretch three-class capacity to 320, with reduced range.
The naming of any aircraft is interesting and usually has some significance. Why then has COMAC chosen these names? Unsurprisingly, the 'C' and 'CR' stand for the manufacturers. The '9' though represents longevity in Chinese culture.
It is pronounced 'jiu,' which is the same pronunciation as the word for 'everlasting' (such wordplay is common in Chinese). The following numbers refer to the aircraft passenger capacity. The C919 offers a typical capacity of 168 (and a maximum limit of 190) and a range of 4,075 kilometers.
There is an extended range version planned, but no different sized variants as yet. After earlier problems with engine suppliers, these have now been confirmed as General Electric LEAP-1C engines, as used on the A320neo and all 737 MAX aircraft.
The first aircraft developed by COMAC was the ARJ21 (Advanced Regional Jet). This is a regional jet with a capacity of up to 90 and a range of 2,225 to 3,700 kilometers. It has two rear-mounted General Electric CF34 engines.
The ARJ21 first flew in 2008 but did not enter service until 2016 with launch customer Chengdu Airlines. So far, there is only one variant (the ARJ21-700), but a larger variant is planned (the ARJ21-900) with a capacity of up to 105.
Boeing and Airbus have grown to lead the aircraft manufacturing market in different ways. Through their own efforts and development, as well as mergers and takeovers of other manufacturers, they have essentially formed a market duopoly for the last 30-40 years.
Our SLS launch. This was an enormous emotional upper for our company and for our team broadly. The Artemis 1 launch in November, which was powered by the SLS rocket, was more than a little inspiring.
It remains unclear whether the C919 can compete with Boeing and Airbus for customers. COMAC's only homegrown commercial aircraft, the ARJ21 short-haul plane, has been in commercial use since 2016. But COMAC has only delivered 68 of the planes to domestic carriers including Chengdu Airlines, Air China, and Jiangxi Airlines;
the planes fly almost entirely in China. Airbus, by comparison, currently has over 2,000 airplanes operating in the country.
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