AIRCRAFT FIRM REELS IN EXPERTS FOR NEW JET

Shanghai-based Comac holds conference ahead of week-long seminar to seek progress with its home-grown C929 widebody passenger plane

China’s state-owned aircraft manufacturer this week rallied 280 “experts and scholars” from various industries to seek breakthroughs in building its C929 widebody long-haul passenger jet amid intensifying competition with Airbus and Boeing.

The Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) said through its official WeChat social media account yesterday that it had kicked off a conference with talent from 21 universities and seven civil aviation companies, among other organisations, on Monday amid efforts to build its largest civilian aircraft.

Experts in aerodynamics, airframe structures, electrical mechanical systems and propulsion systems would also meet for a week-long seminar, Comac said in the post that had been removed by yesterday evening although the contents were still being circulated on state media.

At the end of March, Comac marketing director Zhang Xiaoguang said that the C929 had entered “a crucial stage” of its development process.

Fuselage manufacturer Huarui Aerospace Manufacturing, which was selected in 2021 to build the body of the C929, said in February that the first middle section would be delivered by September 2027.

The C929 would have around 280-400 seats, and a range of 12,000km, according to Comac.

But the C929, due to rival the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 models, would require a stronger domestic outbound travel market and approvals from overseas aviation regulators to progress, said Eric Lin, head of Greater China research with UBS in Hong Kong.

“The [narrowbody] C919 is now going into mass production, but the C929 is another story as a bigger aircraft for longer hauls,” Lin said, with planes of a similar size to the C929 intended for longer international routes. “You really need to have a pickup from the Chinese outbound travel market to get that demand.”

Comac – whose narrowbody C919 began flying commercially last year on domestic routes – has indicated that the C929 would be largely home-grown, but Lin added that it was also not clear how the manufacturer would source the parts for the aircraft.

Analysts said the C919 was set to compete with the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 families of aircraft because it was intended for mid-range flights.

The C919 still depends on foreign components, including for its engine produced by a joint venture between GE Aerospace of the US and France’s Safran Aircraft Engines.

But the Shanghai-based Aero Engine Corporation of China is developing the CJ-1000 high-bypass turbofan jet engine.

That falls in line with China’s wider goal of self-sufficiency in the wake of trade and technological tensions with the West.

Comac, which was established in 2008, also makes the smaller ARJ21 regional aircraft.

“As our country’s first independently developed intercontinental passenger aircraft, the C929 is of great significance for improving the quality of domestic commercial aircraft and promoting the development of the commercial aircraft industry,” Comac chairman He Dongfeng said in the WeChat post.

“Comac welcomes even more cooperation partners to enjoy joint wins from the opportunities and the future of large aircraft.”

Airbus and Boeing, though, were unlikely to be affected by the C929 because they had a “whole suite of long-haul aircraft options for their customers”, said John Grant, a senior analyst with British aviation intelligence firm OAG.

He forecast a “minimal impact” outside China.