If all goes well, passenger airplane manufacturers
Airbus and
Boeing may soon have to face tough competition from China’s
Commercial Aircraft Corp from April. The Chinese C919 aircraft will be powered by the LEAP engine, made by
CFM International, an equal joint venture between
Safran and
General Electric Co.
This 168-seat plane of single aisle may soon be a tough competition in the global aviation market. The passenger jet project is part of an ambitious plan by President
Xi Jinping to modernize China's manufacturing. The government has identified aerospace among sectors that could help accelerate the process.
The chief engineer at
COMAC, as the state-owned aircraft maker is known locally, said in October that the plane would take off by early 2017 at the latest after at least two delays since 2014.
COMAC counts as many as 16 global corporations as suppliers, including
GE and
Honeywell International Inc., and has set up at least 16 joint ventures for avionics, flight control, power, fuel and landing gear. COMAC estimates the market potential for the plane at as much as $96 billion.
