Chinese and Russians aim to end Airbus-Boeing duopoly

PARIS: China’s C919 and Russia’s MC-21 may be absent from the tarmac at the Paris Air Show, but their makers don’t hide their ambition to nose into the biggest part of the civil aviation market – single-aisle medium-haul aircraft – which is dominated by Airbus and Boeing.

“For decades there were just two families of competing aircraft in the single-aisle segment, the A320 and the 737 built by Airbus and Boeing,” said Stephane Albernhe, managing partner at Archery Consulting.

Both firms have been announcing business worth tens of billions of dollars for their mid- range bestsellers at the Paris Air Show, but they’re unlikely to keep the market for themselves for long.

“Things are beginning to change because the duopoly is being attacked by the Bombardier’s C Series, Comac’s C919 and Irkut’s MC-21.

While Bombardier’s C Series entered into commercial service last year, both the C919 and MC-21 only just made their maiden test flights last month and are years away from entering into service.

The C919, which made its first test flight on May 5, built by stateowned aerospace manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation

For decades there were just two families of competing aircraft in the single-aisle segment, the A320 and the 737 built by Airbus and Boeing. Stephane Albernhe, managing partner at Archery Consulting

of China (COMAC), represents nearly a decade of effort in a government-mandated drive to reduce the nation’s dependence on Airbus and Boeing aircraft.

Capable of carrying 168 passengers over a distance of 5,500 kilometres (3,400 miles), the C919 already has 600 orders.

The MC-21 also represents an effort by Russia to end reliance on foreign aircraft. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian airlines have shifted to Airbus and Boeing aircraft which are cheaper to operate.

Manufactured by the stateowned Irkut, the aircraft made its first flight on May 28 over Siberia. Capable of carrying between 132 and 211 passengers up to 6,000 kilometres, there have been 175 orders for the MC-21 according to Irkut.

The MC-21’s maiden flight comes six years after Russia’s short-haul Sukhoi Superjet aircraft came into service in 2011.

But they have since suffered serious technical issues that have forced the plane’s grounding.

For Gilles Fournier, managing director of the Paris Air Show, “these planes are not yet mature enough to display” at the event. But, he added, “I think they will be in two years” at the next Paris Air Show.

“These new entrants have states which support them and they won’t stop there,” said Albernhe.

“They have started with singleaisle aircraft, but its a good wager that at least as far as the Chinese are concerned, the next model with be a long-haul aircraft.”

In fact, Beijing and Moscow announced last month they intend to work together this time a longdistance aircraft, which has been baptised C-929 by the Chinese.

Capable of carrying 280 passengers on flights up to 12,000 kilometres, the C-929 would take on the latest long-haul jets offered by Airbus and Boeing -- the A350 and 787 Dreamliner. — AFP