Date 15 May 2010
China may, by the end of the year, start deliveries of the ARJ-21 Xiangfeng, its first indigenously designed and developed commercial regional jet. Although the project itself is relatively modest in ambition and scope, the significance of the ARJ-21's deliverance is that it could be the precursor to the development of an entirely new industrial sector in Asia.
The ARJ-21 series of large passenger jets offers serious competition to a field that is currently dominated by just a handful of firms in the Western hemisphere. Just four companies dominate the global passenger jet business: Boeing and the European consortium Airbus are the sole manufacturers of large commercial aircraft (125 to 650+ seats), while Canada’s Bombardier and Embraer of Brazil vie to supply regional jets in the 35-to-125 seat capacity. The ARJ-21 is perhaps Asia’s best and strongest hope to date for finally penetrating this tight market. No other Asian commercial airliner program has ever progressed this far in terms of design, development, and manufacturing, and the Chinese government appears to be strongly committed to seeing the ARJ-21 through to fruition, not only by adequately funding the project and working to ensure domestic (and even overseas) orders, but also by restructuring the Chinese aircraft industry so it can expand and become globally competitive in the commercial jet sector.
The ARJ-21 regional jet, is a small scale plane, seating between 90 and 105 passengers, designed for short-haul flights of less than three hours. It is intended first and foremost to meet China’s burgeoning demand for internal air transport; estimates are that the country will require up to 1,000 medium-sized regional jets over the next 20 years.
The ARJ-21, in fact, has already secured over 180 firm orders from Chinese airlines. From three original launch customers—Shangdong Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, and Shenzhen Financial Leasing—the plane’s order books have expanded to include three other local airlines: Xiamen, Kunpeng and Joy Air. Remarkably, the plane has also scored overseas customers, including Lao Airlines and GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS); GECAS, an Irish-American commercial aircraft leasing company, has ordered five ARJ-21s, with an option on 20 more. Currently, the ARJ-21 has a respectable backlog of 240 planes (firm orders plus options).
Overall, China is rapidly becoming the commercial aerospace hub of Asia. In addition to the home-grown ARJ-21, China is currently assembling the Airbus A320 commercial airliner in Tianjin. As part of the deal, Airbus built a final assembly line nearly identical to the A320 plant in Hamburg, Germany, and production will reach four aircraft per month by 2011. Meanwhile, Embraer has a joint venture with the Harbin Aircraft Industry Group to co-produce the 35-50 passenger ERJ family of regional jets. Airliners produced at both plants will mainly serve the Chinese airline industry; therefore, these programs serve mainly as an offset to promote further sales to the Chinese aviation market.
At the same time, China’s domestic aircraft industry is not resting on its laurels. In 2009, it unveiled a scale-model of a 170-190 seat commercial airliner, designated the C919, which will directly compete with the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737. An obvious play on the Boeing B7x7 designator system, one can infer that the Chinese intend this plane to be a player in the global commercial aircraft market. The C919 is supposed to have its first flight in 2014, with deliveries commencing in 2016.
Ironically, whereas in the past (and even up to the present), Chinese aerospace firms often have served as subcontractors to Boeing and Airbus, foreign companies are now vying to become suppliers and subcontractors to the Chinese aviation industry. More than 20 overseas firms are partnering on the ARJ-21, including General Electric (engines), Rockwell Collins (avionics), Leibheer (landing gear), and Parker Aerospace (flight controls) [4]. In addition, CFM International has recently been chosen to supply its LEAP-X powerplant for the C919, and it will subsequently build a final assembly line in China to produce the engine (Flightglobal, December 21, 2009).
The success of the ARJ-21 will revitalize the Asian commercial aircraft industry. For the first time, this part of the world will have a product that can compete in an industrial sector historically dominated by North Americans and Europeans. More importantly, China could eventually become a hub for regional civilian airliner production, bringing in other aerospace firms from throughout Asia to partner on follow-on commercial aircraft projects.
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