Chinese aviation seeks opportunity at Farnborough Airshow

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Europe

02:46

Chinese plane manufacturers made good business deals at the annual Farnborough International Airshow in London, which is one of the world's top aeronautics and astronautics exhibitions.

The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) said that it has already signed deals at the five-day event to sell twenty ARJ21-700 planes.

The past 30 years have seen the Chinese aviation industry develop rapidly thanks to good progress in research and technology.

COMAC has developed China's first commercial jumbo plane, the C919, and the regional jet plane ARJ21, as well as the China-Russia co-developed wide-body CR929 aircraft. All these aircraft are on display at the Farnborough International Airshow.

The company signed deals on the first day of the show to sell 20 ARJ21-700 planes, and 473 planes have been ordered so far.

VCG Photo

"The ARJ21 aircraft is a noticeable progress for China's aviation industry towards making commercial jumbo planes,” said Yang Yang, COMAC's sales manager, “Although it is a regional jet plane, its design is in accordance with the standards of jumbo airlines. The ARJ21's market success is significant to the C919 jumbo aircraft and CR929 wide-body aircraft."

Amanda Stainer, the commercial director of the Farnborough International Airshow, said they hope to expand the aviation sector by collaborating with the Chinese company.

"We have increased Chinese participation at this show by seven percent, which is really welcome,” said Stainer.

The event is also delighted to see CASIC joining the show for the first time, “it is great to have Chinese firms in our space sector,” she said.

Farnborough International Airshow (FIA) 2018 in Farnborough, UK, on July 17, 2018 /VCG Photo

Small and medium sized Chinese enterprises also played an important role in supporting the development of China's aviation industry. The Shandong Nanshan Aluminum Company has passed certification, allowing it to make the first class material for the wings of large aircraft built by Airbus.

"It is an honor to be the third global manufacturer to obtain aviation material qualification in more than over 100 years. The other two are American companies,” said Cheng of the Shandong Nanshan Aluminum Company. “We will begin making world-class aluminum aviation materials for the C919 in the second half of this year, breaking the long term monopoly of foreign aviation materials."

Liu Xiaoming, China's ambassador to the United Kingdom, noted that China has become an important participant in the aviation industry.

"We used to be spectators and visitors in the past. But now we are not only participants of an airshow, but also players in the development of the world's aviation industry. This is a big change,” said Liu.