Fri, Sep 23, 2005
Country's Biggest Plane-Maker Wants Piece Of Huge Commercial
Market
The biggest aircraft maker in what's expected to become the
biggest airline market says it wants to compete with the likes of
Boeing and Airbus for a piece of the global aircraft manufacturing
market. China's Aviation Industry Corporation I wants in.
"AVIC I is the biggest aviation manufacturer company in China,"
said Tang Xiaoping, assistant president of the Beijing-based
company. Our goal is to reach the level of international big
aviation companies in the next 20 to 30 years." Tang was quoted by
AFP.
Right now, AVIC I makes engines and weapons systems solely for
the Chinese military. But Tang figures there's plenty of cross-over
technology that can be brought to bear on the manufacture of civil
aircraft.
"One of our goals for the next 20 to 30 years is we would like
to have sales of civilian aviation products equivalent to that of
other aviation products sales... and we would like our domestic and
international markets to be equivalent," Tang said at Aviation
Expo/China 2005 in Beijing.
"In the very beginning of this project, people asked me this
question. I said then 'If we cannot get 50 percent of the market,
we won't start this project," Tang said. "Today I still believe we
can achieve this goal within the next 20 years."
It could initially be an uphill fight for AVIC I, given that
Boeing now has a 63-percent share of the Chinese civil aviation
market. Airbus has 28-percent.
But undaunted, AVIC I is developing the ARJ21 -- short- to
medium-haul civil aircraft capable of carrying 70- to
90-passengers. It's primarily being designed for domestic Chinese
flights.
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