A commercial Plane Corp of China (Comac) C919 aircraft operated by China Japanese Airlines during the Singapore Airshow in Singapore, on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024.
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SINGAPORE — China’s homegrown airliner could be the most recent challenger to Airbus and Boeing’s passenger jets, but an executive from Airbus stated he is not fearful.
The Comac C919 is “not heading to rock the boat in certain,” Christian Scherer, chief executive officer of Airbus’s plane commercial enterprise, mentioned at a media roundtable on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow.
“It appears to be like a bit like an Airbus narrow entire body,” Scherer claimed, tongue in cheek, noting that the C919 is “not incredibly distinct” from what Airbus and Boeing presently have in the industry.
Scherer acknowledged that the C919 was a “legitimate exertion” by China — but “the market place is large adequate for level of competition, we welcome the competitiveness.”
“We you should not want to stick our head in the sand … it’s a usual factor to see additional competitiveness,” Scherer additional.
Comac’s spokesperson did not quickly reply to CNBC’s request for remark.
Touted as a competitor to Boeing’s 737 and the Airbus 320, the Comac C919 is a narrow entire body jet created by the Business Plane Company of China, or Comac. It was qualified by the Civil Aviation Administration of China in September 2022 and entered professional service with China Japanese Airways in May perhaps previous 12 months.
The Comac C919 works by using the exact same engine as Airbus’s narrow entire body passenger jetliner the Airbus A320neo, powered by the CFM International LEAP engines.
Comac announced on the sidelines of the air show on Tuesday that it experienced signed a offer with China’s Tibet Airlines and finalized an order for 40 C919 and 10 ARJ21 jets from the Chinese plane maker.
The ARJ21 jet is a shorter to medium range turbofan airplane which can fly shorter distances and is utilised for regional flights.
Even however the C919 is licensed only by Chinese authorities, field authorities have claimed it could be an early competitor to the professional aviation duopoly between Boeing and Airbus.
“The marketplace contacts we speak to consider the complications at Boeing, precisely the 737 Max, existing an early opportunity for Comac,” Northcoast Investigate analyst Chris Olin earlier instructed CNBC.
— CNBC’s Nessa Anwar contributed to this tale.