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A CHINESE STATE-OWNED manufacturer has unveiled the first plane produced in the country to compete in the market for large passenger jetliners.
China is one of the biggest aviation markets but relies on Boeing and Airbus aircraft. The multibillion-dollar effort to create the homegrown C919 jetliner is aimed at clawing back some of the commercial benefits that flow to foreign suppliers.
The Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (Comac) showed off the first of the twin-engine planes in a ceremony attended by some 4,000 government officials and other guests at a hangar near Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport.
“It’s a major push for the country, as they want to be known as a major player” in airplane manufacturing, said Mavis Toh, Asia air transport editor for Flightglobal magazine.
The C919 is one of several initiatives launched by the ruling Communist Party to transform China from the world’s low-cost factory into a creator of profitable technology in aviation, clean energy and other fields.
Head to head
The C919, which can seat up to 168 passengers, is meant to compete in the market for single-aisle jets dominated by the European Airbus’s A320 and the US Boeing’s 737.
Its manufacturer says it has received orders from 21 customers for a total of 517 aircraft, mostly from Chinese carriers but also from GE Capital Aviation Services.
Ryanair signed a design agreement with Comac in 2011 to develop a rival for the A320, which the carrier has shunned for a fleet made up exclusively of 737-800s.
A separate Chinese state-owned company also has developed a smaller regional jet, the ARJ-21, to compete in the market dominated by Brazil’s Embraer and Canada’s Bombardier. The first two ARJ-21s were delivered last year to a Chinese airline.
Most of the C919′s critical systems including engines and avionics are being supplied by Western companies or foreign-Chinese joint ventures.
Boeing forecasts China’s total demand for civilian jetliners over the next two decades at 5,580 planes worth a total of $780 billion (€706 billion).
China’s major airlines are state-owned, which gives the Communist Party a captive pool of potential customers that can be ordered to buy the C919.
A lot of sense
“China offers a terrific market, superb engineering talent and reasonably low costs. Developing a national aircraft industry makes a lot of sense,” said Richard Aboulafia, vice president for analysis of Teal Group Corp., an industry consultant, in a report in July.
However, the C919 is hampered by official requirements that its manufacturer favor components produced in China, unlike competitors who source parts globally, according to Aboulafia.
This means Western suppliers need to give away technology to play on this jet,” said Aboulafia. “It also means that this aircraft is designed by people whose hands have been tied.”
Development of the C919 began in 2008. Plans called for a first flight in 2014 and for it to enter service in 2016, but those targets were pushed back due to production delays. The C919 now is due to fly next year and enter service in about 2019.
One of the biggest components, the core processing and display system, is being supplied by a joint venture between GE Aviation Systems and AVIC, a state-owned Chinese military contractor.
Other suppliers include Honeywell, Rockwell Collins and Hamilton Sunstrand.
- Additional reporting TheJournal.ie staff
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Dare I suggest that maybe banks should pay for bank bailouts !!!
the reason they cant agree is fg want the people to pay
How about we stop the bailouts and let them crash. Other banka will pop up. Bailouts are no good
Jim
A correction if you don’t mind.
The reason they cant agree is fg want the people’s grandchildren to pay
@Dmc agreed 100%, the act of bailing out the banks, and then forcing the people to pay for the bailout, results in people being unable to pay their own personal debt, which in turn leads to more stress on the banks in question, then more charges and taxes etc on the people. It’s a vicious circle.
Bailouts are the most effective way to transfer vast amounts from taxpayers to the 1% .Politicians are just the pimps in this process .
Politicians and senior civil servants are protecting their munificent pensions and sacrificing the people for that purpose. Pimps is a good description. I can think of worse.
yeah, in punts, escudos, lira, drachma, and pesetas!
5 currencies you wouldn’t wipe yer arse with, but the euro (der ubermark) still wobbles on.
Sickens me to say it, but we should get out of the Euro and apply to peg against Sterling again.
Thanks Bertie.
you’d better hope i’m not diagnosed with something terminal any time soon.
Its probably best they make ireland pay for it all….for every country, sure why not like
They wont have to make us, our eejits will volunteer
They WILL rob more bank accounts.
“Legacy losses will be used as a disciplinary device: Greece, Spain and Ireland will now have to tussle, beg and plead for debt relief regarding the funds already borrowed from the EFSF-ESM for their banks,” said Dr Varoufakis.
We are in the EUSSR like it or not.
PS “The deal reached by EMU finance ministers on the use of the bail-out fund (ESM) to recapitalise distressed banks makes clear who will in fact suffer the real losses: first shareholders, then bondholders and then deposit holders above €100,000. They stand to lose almost everything, as we saw with Laiki in Cyprus.”
From the Daily Telegraph
In AIBs case .. share holders already done … bond holders mostly paid so straight to 3rd level. Deposits will have to be hit well below 100k. Also state will need to invest an amount prior to ESM.
AIB returning to profit if they disregard the boom era loans .. wow if I disregard them from my budget it looks much better too. Also disregards the pension they need to fund since their disastrous approach to retirement for 50 year old. I dont believe a word they say.
Popped into local PO today … I intend to do so much more
The government are incapable … the people are not
The gov owns the post office!!!! LOOK OUT!!!
Yea maybe so Kevin but it seems like a safer bet than aib ptsb esb .. boi hard to judge
Ask a five year old kid. The banks ultimately should. All bailout costs should be recoverable from them in the long term. They shouldn’t get a get out of jail free card!
has A.I.B repaid any of the taxpayer,s money it received in the 1st bailout over 30yr ago,
i dont believe it has.
also if banks can chase mortgage holders in arrears why can’t we the taxpayer chase them down for the money they owe us.
Good point jim.
Seeing as those bastards have saddled each and every one of us with about €36,000 of their debt I think I’ll stop payin me mortgage for the next 4 years.
See how that goes down with them!!
Or maybe i should just follow the government’s lead, and get your grandchildren to pay instead?
Unlike those miserable f##kers i wouldn’t sleep easy if i did that.
and the reason you wouldnt be able to sleep at night is because you my friend (Eamonn O, Riain) have a conscience and a moral standard which these conmen bankers and i will include politicians because the same politicians are nothing more than chief enablers for the bankers in this do not.
they have passed motion after motion in our so-called parliament (reichstag kildare st) to facilitate the bankers utter incompetence and a reward for all this incompetence they get fat salaries even fatter pensions, membership of gyms, country clubs and of course the all important golf clubs,
now what about all these so-call developers getting paid anywhere in the region of up to €250K per year to clear off their debt to us yes folk they get paid it has to be a sick sick mind that thought that 1 up because if you or i cannot pay any loan given to us by a bank the small print says your home is at risk if you fail to pay it back ,
i dont see many of these developers being kicked out of their home,s do you ??
Yep, one happy Union where all are treated equally.
You can bet that in 10 years’ time, if we get there, the 4.5 trillion debt loaded on to taxpayers will be double that.
At the very least.
All it needs now is for someone to shout ‘TIMBER’.
What do they mean they can’t agree? It’s the same people who pay everytime a politician magnificently f**ks up…..us!
Declan
Yesterday Noonan said he has failed the Irish people in getting back their money from the Irish Banks. Today he fails to do the same for European citizens.
This man and his Government are nothing short of failures.
It’s a financial black hole just like anglo ,the ordinary joe knows nothing about anglo yet it managed to suck millions and millions of taxpayers’ money and us none the wiser.
culm might i add criminals to the topic ,our political and judicial system is smashed beyond repair.
This government spin everything to try and save face on everything .
Politics in this country has failed.
That’s simple, the bankers that are swanning around Scott free.
I thought Angela Merkel had already decided that the taxpayers would foot the bill! What a circus.
So, the egomaniac that came up with the ‘euro’. Was it a ‘Eureka’ moment? It clearly was not akin to the constipated mathematician.
Take your time guys, no rush.
Whatever is done will only be done at the behest of Commandant Merkel. What the German’s didn’t do with tanks, they are now doing with banks.
A bit unfair to say that. But with the evidence so far it’s not untrue.
Wow! Cant make up their mind since 2008…..
Wan##ng bankers
Sweet mother of science, these gangster are taking the piss,
Taxpayers paid 4.5TRILLION and it still ain,t sorted , ……sorry i,m confused combine how much was paid to all the bankers in question between 2008 and 2011, in the billions i reckon .
Time ro just let them fail , sack and jail all those involved , hit the reset button and start again.
With that 4.5 trillion wr could have relieved the world of poverty and starvation
Who does it benefit with no deal?
Bankers
Its like throwing money into a bottomless pit. They will never solve the problem it has gone to far. Why should the tax payer have to pay for the mistakes of some. The banks are partly responsible for the current situation so they should carry some of the Burden.MIS MANAGEMENT IN THE BANKS HAVE CAUSED THIS AND THOSE RESPONSIBLE HOLD BE BROUGHT TO ACCOUNT
jeez mick noonan the poor will pay you silly billies .Done deal spit on me hand
We must continue to sacrifice more to the great god banks, makers of our world. We must avert their wrath. We must not question the policy of protecting the banks. Never challenge orthodoxy. Accept without question the need for the banks.
Good news maybe if they cannot agree it means we (Ireland) may not be due another bail out soon.
Bono has offered to pay. He likes banks, especially but not only off shore banks.
A friend who lost job recently and who may come under pressure from his bank asked me how many bankers have paid the ultimate sacrifice and took their life? I could recall just one. How many people on the other side of banks mismanagement? I had no idea. More than one though. Just another angle …
Germany forced the Fianna Fáil led Irish Government to rescue the German Banks Bondholders in Irish Banks.
Such Bondholders are/were unsecured creditors!
The innocent Irish Taxpayers are now paying the price of “reckless trading” by greedy Irish Bankers , developers and Bankers !
This is NOT justice!
Meanwhile NAMA is paying many greedy developers and builders significant salaries !
Is this justice?
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