Latest news with #Comac
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
China wants to challenge Airbus and Boeing and shake up global aviation. Here's what you need to know about its upstart planemaker, Comac.
Comac, China's state-owned planemaker, has huge ambitions to disrupt Boeing and Airbus' hold on aviation. Its main plane, the C919, is a direct competitor to the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. While it faces obstacles like tariffs, many industry leaders see Comac as a major threat. For decades, the building of the world's commercial passenger planes has been a duopoly. Get an international flight anywhere in the world, and it's highly likely you'll be on either an Airbus or a Boeing plane. A Chinese upstart planemaker, Comac, wants to disrupt that, and the signs suggest it has a good chance. Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury has even said the industry could go "from a duopoly to a potential triopoly." Officially known as the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, the planemaker was only founded in 2008, and has not been without challenges and controversy. But with air travel growing rapidly in China and supply chain problems blighting the aviation industry globally, Comac's rise comes at a perfect time. Eight years after its foundation, Comac's first plane entered commercial service. Initially known as the ARJ21, it was later renamed the C909 to unify the company's branding, a sign of Comac's growing ambitions. Data from Ch-aviation says 145 of these have been delivered to airlines, mostly based in China and a few in Southeast Asia. The plane's chief designer, Chen Yong, told the state news agency Xinhua that 166 are in service. The C909 is a small jet, with a capacity of between 78 and 90 seats. Designed for regional journeys, it's more likely to compete with planes from the Brazilian manufacturer Embraer. Comac's more important aircraft is instead the C919, which is similar to Airbus' A320 family and Boeing's 737. It's another single-aisle aircraft but has a longer range and can carry between 156 and 168 passengers. Due to the huge demand from airlines, these types of jets have been significant cash cows for Airbus and Boeing. While Ch-aviation data indicates just 19 C919s have entered commercial service, that number is expected to grow massively. In 2023, Comac Chairman He Dongfeng said there were 1,061 orders, Xinhua reported. Europe's biggest airline, the Irish budget carrier Ryanair, is also considering buying some. "The Chinese are basically building a fucking A320. So if it was cheap enough — 10% or 20% cheaper than an Airbus aircraft — then we'd order it," CEO Michael O'Leary told travel industry outlet Skift in March. However, Florian Guillermet, executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, told French publication L'Usine Nouvelle in May that certification is still three to six years away. Plus, the state-owned planemaker isn't without its controversy. US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, the ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, warned O'Leary not to order the jets, citing allegations of corporate espionage. In February, 66-year-old Liming Li, from California, pleaded guilty to possessing trade secrets he downloaded from his former US employer, which specialized in precision measuring. Court documents say FBI agents saw emails with Comac staff and presentations for the company. Other cases have charged Chinese intelligence officers and hackers with attempting to steal technology about American jet engines, according to the Justice Department. Donald Trump's tariff plan has also posed a significant threat because the C919 heavily relies on American parts. According to analysts at Bank of America, it has 48 suppliers from the US, 26 from Europe, and just 14 from China. "If China stops buying aircraft components from the US, the C919 program is halted or dead," they wrote in an April report. But ongoing negotiations suggest trade tensions are easing. The Air Current and Reuters reported earlier in July that the US government has allowed GE Aerospace to restart vital engine shipments to Comac. Beyond the C919, Comac is already working on three other types of jets. That includes two wide-bodies, the C929 and the C939, and a supersonic airliner, the C949. Meanwhile, the industry is divided over whether Comac will be able to challenge Airbus and Boeing's dominance. "Comac is years away from being certified outside China … It's going to be a very limited market for quite some time," John Schmidt, Accenture's global aerospace and defense lead, told Business Insider in an interview at last month's Paris Air Show. Alternatively, Airbus CEO Faury said in February that Comac was more likely to succeed thanks to its "privileged access" to the Chinese market, which accounts for a fifth of global aircraft demand. Guillermet told L'Usine Nouvelle that Comac was putting considerable resources into Europe's certification process. "I have no doubt that it will succeed," he added. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
08-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
China wants to challenge Airbus and Boeing and shake up global aviation. Here's what you need to know about its upstart planemaker, Comac.
For decades, the building of the world's commercial passenger planes has been a duopoly. Get an international flight anywhere in the world, and it's highly likely you'll be on either an Airbus or a Boeing plane. A Chinese upstart planemaker, Comac, wants to disrupt that, and the signs suggest it has a good chance. Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury has even said the industry could go "from a duopoly to a potential triopoly." Officially known as the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, the planemaker was only founded in 2008, and has not been without challenges and controversy. But with air travel growing rapidly in China and supply chain problems blighting the aviation industry globally, Comac 's rise comes at a perfect time. Comac looks to challenge Airbus and Boeing's dominance Eight years after its foundation, Comac's first plane entered commercial service. Initially known as the ARJ21, it was later renamed the C909 to unify the company's branding, a sign of Comac's growing ambitions. Data from Ch-aviation says 145 of these have been delivered to airlines, mostly based in China and a few in Southeast Asia. The plane's chief designer, Chen Yong, told the state news agency Xinhua that 166 are in service. The C909 is a small jet, with a capacity of between 78 and 90 seats. Designed for regional journeys, it's more likely to compete with planes from the Brazilian manufacturer Embraer. Comac's more important aircraft is instead the C919, which is similar to Airbus' A320 family and Boeing's 737. It's another single-aisle aircraft but has a longer range and can carry between 156 and 168 passengers. Due to the huge demand from airlines, these types of jets have been significant cash cows for Airbus and Boeing. While Ch-aviation data indicates just 19 C919s have entered commercial service, that number is expected to grow massively. In 2023, Comac Chairman He Dongfeng said there were 1,061 orders, Xinhua reported. Europe's biggest airline, the Irish budget carrier Ryanair, is also considering buying some. "The Chinese are basically building a fucking A320. So if it was cheap enough — 10% or 20% cheaper than an Airbus aircraft — then we'd order it," CEO Michael O'Leary told travel industry outlet Skift in March. However, Florian Guillermet, executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, told French publication L'Usine Nouvelle in May that certification is still three to six years away. Plus, the state-owned planemaker isn't without its controversy. Trade secrets and tariffs US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, the ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, warned O'Leary not to order the jets, citing allegations of corporate espionage. In February, 66-year-old Liming Li, from California, pleaded guilty to possessing trade secrets he downloaded from his former US employer, which specialized in precision measuring. Court documents say FBI agents saw emails with Comac staff and presentations for the company. Other cases have charged Chinese intelligence officers and hackers with attempting to steal technology about American jet engines, according to the Justice Department. Donald Trump's tariff plan has also posed a significant threat because the C919 heavily relies on American parts. According to analysts at Bank of America, it has 48 suppliers from the US, 26 from Europe, and just 14 from China. "If China stops buying aircraft components from the US, the C919 program is halted or dead," they wrote in an April report. But ongoing negotiations suggest trade tensions are easing. The Air Current and Reuters reported earlier in July that the US government has allowed GE Aerospace to restart vital engine shipments to Comac. Comac's future Beyond the C919, Comac is already working on three other types of jets. That includes two wide-bodies, the C929 and the C939, and a supersonic airliner, the C949. Meanwhile, the industry is divided over whether Comac will be able to challenge Airbus and Boeing's dominance. "Comac is years away from being certified outside China … It's going to be a very limited market for quite some time," John Schmidt, Accenture's global aerospace and defense lead, told Business Insider in an interview at last month's Paris Air Show. Alternatively, Airbus CEO Faury said in February that Comac was more likely to succeed thanks to its "privileged access" to the Chinese market, which accounts for a fifth of global aircraft demand. Guillermet told L'Usine Nouvelle that Comac was putting considerable resources into Europe's certification process. "I have no doubt that it will succeed," he added.
South China Morning Post
07-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China-US jet engine deal to boost C919 production, Comac's EU market ambitions: analysts
China is expected to sustain production of its home-grown aircraft and expand access to foreign skies, following the United States' removal of a ban on selling American jet engine parts and technology to Chinese buyers. But analysts cautioned that earlier export restrictions imposed by the Trump administration had a chilling effect – one that could harden Beijing's resolve to accelerate the development of indigenous engines and other critical components. Sales resumed last week after a bilateral agreement on export controls was confirmed, Reuters reported. The deal allows Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) to import parts from a GE-invested joint venture. Access to engines, which China does not yet mass-produce domestically, enables Comac to fulfil hundreds of orders for its narrowbody C919 aircraft at its current pace. Without them, the company would need to seek new foreign suppliers or speed up the development of a home-grown alternative, said Hugh Ritchie, CEO of Aviation Analysts International in Australia. 'Without access to that technology, essentially the US would control parts for Chinese aircraft,' Ritchie said. 'It's pretty important for Comac.'
The Standard
06-07-2025
- The Standard
China opens third extension to sensitive Taiwan Strait flight path
A Comac passenger jet flies away from the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai in 2023. (Reuters)
Nikkei Asia
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Nikkei Asia
China opens 3rd extension to sensitive Taiwan Strait flight path
A Comac passenger jet flies away from the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai in 2023. © Reuters HONG KONG (Reuters) -- China's civil aviation authority said on Sunday it has opened a third extension of the M503 flight route, which has for years been the subject of complaints from Taipei due to its position just west of an unofficial dividing line in the Taiwan Strait. China last year moved the M503 route closer to the median line, drawing an angry response from Taipei, which said Beijing was trying to "package" civil aviation for political or military considerations to potentially change the strait's status quo. The opening of the W121 extension comes days before the annual Han Kuang military and civil defense drills that Taiwan holds to simulate a Chinese blockade and invasion of the democratic island. The median line had for years served as an unofficial barrier between Chinese-claimed Taiwan and China, but China says it does not recognize its existence and Chinese warplanes now regularly fly over it as Beijing seeks to pressure Taipei to accept its sovereignty claims. The Civil Aviation Authority of China said that "in order to further optimize the airspace environment and improve operational efficiency, from now on, civil aviation will use the W121 connection line of the M503 route." Taiwan's China policy-making Mainland Affairs Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This is the third extension after W122 and W123, which are to the south of W121, opened last year. All three go west to east, from mainland China in the direction of Taiwan. "This measure is aimed at "ensuring flight safety, reducing flight delays, and protecting the rights and interests of passengers," China's Taiwan Affairs Office said. It added that the opening was "beneficial" to both sides of the strait. Taiwan, which is facing ramped-up military pressure from China, which considers the separately governed island as its own, begins its Han Kuang exercises on July 9 and they are set to last for 10 days.
