C929 jet to rely on western suppliers for systems

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The C929 wide-body jet is a co-venture between China's COMAC and Russia's United Aircraft Corporation and will be primarily constructed by Chinese companies, but for key systems like avionics, it will still rely mostly on western manufacturers, the jet’s chief designer said.

China has been plowing billions of dollars into developing jets to raise its profile in global aviation, and to disrupt the current Boeing Co and Airbus SE duopoly, most recently with its C919 narrrowbody aircraft. It has also been vocal about wanting to support the domestic aerospace industry.

“Western suppliers need not be too worried,” said Chen Yingchun, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China’s (COMAC‘s) chief designer on the project.

Compared with the C919, there will be more Chinese contribution to the C929 project, “but some systems, like signaling, won’t be affected,” Chen said at an aviation conference in Beijing on Wednesday.

Overseas suppliers like Honeywell International Inc. and Safran SA were instrumental in the making of China’s C919 jet. The plane took its maiden flight in May and 730 orders have been placed so far, mostly by Chinese companies.

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The project is on track to seek bids for the engine by the end of the year, he said. Rolls Royce and General Electric, who both supply wide-body jet engines, are expected to be contenders, but China is also trying to develop its own version with Russia.

Chen also said the joint venture was looking to build half of the C929 using composite materials, compared to C919’s 10 percent, and that talks were underway with European, US and Chinese suppliers who were willing to set up facilities close to COMAC’s Shanghai headquarters.

The partners aim to complete the C929’s maiden flight and first delivery over the course of 2025 to 2028.

COMAC’s first two passenger plane projects, the ARJ21 and C919, were, however, far behind schedule with the ARJ21 only entering service last year, eight years after it had its first flight.

A spokesman for COMAC told Reuters the C919 would take its second flight by the end of this year.

China is the world’s fastest growing aviation market and US aerospace company Boeing expects Chinese airlines to spend 1.1 billion US dollars on buying more than 7,000 jets over the next 20 years as they expand their fleets, meeting the country's robust demand for travel.

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Source(s): AP ,AFP ,Reuters