Chinese aircraft and ambitions in Southeast Asia

Why Southeast Asia?

Recently, for the first time in the skies of five Southeast Asian countries, domestically produced Chinese aircraft, the C919 and ARJ21, took to the skies. Van Don International Airport, Quang Ninh , Vietnam was the first destination, followed by Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Chinese-made C919 (left) and ARJ21 aircraft on display at Van Don International Airport. Photo: Facebook.

This activity is part of a series of events by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) to promote the brands of the two aircraft lines above, with the expectation of laying the foundation for international commercial activities in this region.

According to the South China Post (SCMP), Southeast Asia has a deep trade relationship with China. Meanwhile, the post-pandemic aviation industry here is recovering strongly with many new routes and airlines appearing. Therefore, Southeast Asia has become COMAC's top target, outside the domestic market.

COMAC estimates that over the next two decades, the number of civil passenger aircraft worldwide will increase from 24,264 to 51,701, with the number of commercial aircraft in the Asia- Pacific market increasing from 3,314 to 9,701.

Mr. Shukor Yusof, founder of aviation consulting firm Endau Analytics, said: "The Southeast Asian market still has room for COMAC, although the C919 will have to compete with famous aircraft lines such as the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 Max."

C919 has opportunities in the medium and long term

Many experts say that China's C919 has a huge advantage because Boeing has recently been struggling with a series of safety scandals, the latest of which is the side door detaching, forcing the company to stop production of the Boeing 737 MAX.

However, Mr. Rob Morris, an expert at aviation data provider Ascend by Cirium, said that although Boeing is facing many difficulties, airlines that have ordered their products cannot immediately switch to buying COMAC products.

In the long term, the 737 Max’s problems could prompt airlines to reconsider ordering Chinese products in the future, Morris said, especially for new airlines or those that receive commercial support from China in countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Experts say that to truly attract customers in the Southeast Asian market, COMAC needs to focus on investing heavily in aircraft support, maintenance and repair services.

Mr. Andrew Charlton, Director of Aviation Advocacy, commented: "COMAC needs to bring aircraft of diverse sizes and functions, especially establishing an operations center. Only then can it win more orders. However, in this decade, COMAC will find it difficult to meet all of those conditions."

Agreeing with Mr. Charlton, Mr. Shukor Yusof said that although the C919 aircraft may be attractive to some airlines, to become more attractive to airlines in the region, COMAC needs to pay a lot of attention to price, maintenance, and support services.

Similarly, Mr. Desmond Goh, Director at Eaton Industries Aerospace Group, said that COMAC needs to be able to build support networks and infrastructure in countries that will operate these two aircraft lines in the future.

Citing the failure of Russian-made Sukhoi aircraft in the international market, Mr. Goh said: "One of the main reasons why the Superjet aircraft developed by Russian civil aircraft company Sukhoi is not being operated in many countries around the world is because the group has not built a global support service network. Although they can sell aircraft, they cannot provide support services."

Boeing and Airbus "ready to welcome"

Boeing and Airbus, the world's two leading aircraft manufacturers, have said they are ready to welcome competition from COMAC. According to them, the commercial passenger aircraft market is large enough to accommodate a new "player".

C919 aircraft performs in Singapore.

Currently, the C919 and ARJ21 aircraft have only been certified by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and have not been certified by aviation authorities in the US and Europe. To address this issue, the CAAC said it is accelerating the process of applying for certification of the C919 aircraft in Europe.

Not stopping there, the Chinese manufacturer also announced plans to manufacture a larger version of the C919 narrow-body aircraft.

Although the C919 and ARJ21 can still operate in countries that do not require certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), according to Alex Krutz, Director of Patriot Industrial Partners, these two aircraft lines need to receive certification from the FAA to mark their success in the commercial passenger aircraft market.

“It took Airbus about three decades to get to where it is now. It will likely take COMAC the same amount of time or longer to get there,” Krutz said.

Price 99 million USD per C919

Each C919 is being sold for $99 million, 6-11% less than competitors. However, the actual amount domestic airlines have to pay COMAC could be much lower thanks to government subsidy programs.

In 2023, COMAC will open its first regional representative office in Indonesia, where the group's sole customer in Southeast Asia is TransNusa, which operates the ARJ21 on the Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur route.

According to analysts, the representative office in Jakarta is an important step for COMAC to fulfill its commitment to providing aircraft maintenance and repair services - a field that is quite new to this group.

Barriers from US-China competition

According to representatives of some Chinese aerospace manufacturers, the tension in China-US relations and trade competition between the two countries are among the main difficulties these businesses face in exporting their products abroad.

SCMP newspaper commented that currently, the tension between Beijing and Washington has not affected China's ambition to build commercial passenger aircraft for export purposes. But in the long run, it will be different.

Liu Yuqiang, senior director at Shandong Stopart Brake Materials, said that China's ability to stay in the global supply chain in the aviation sector is very important.

“The civil aviation industry is a globalized environment, not limited to a single region. Therefore, we need to become part of the global supply chain in the aviation sector and of that globalized market,” said Mr. Liu.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/may-bay-trung-quoc-va-tham-vong-o-dong-nam-a-192240315054154567.htm