Will Partner in Areas Advancing Commercial Aviation Industry Growth

Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) and Boeing have announced a collaboration agreement to partner in areas that will enable commercial aviation industry growth in China and potentially around the world. This is the first collaboration agreement between COMAC, which is building the new C919 jet and ARJ21 regional jet, and Boeing, which this year celebrates its 40th anniversary of providing commercial aircraft and services to China's aviation industry.

As part of the agreement, announced Tuesday in China, the two companies will create the Boeing-COMAC Aviation Energy Conservation and Emissions Reductions Technology Center in Beijing. Funded by both companies, the Boeing-COMAC Center will support research projects to increase commercial aviation's fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The aircraft manufacturers also agreed to have annual leadership engagements and exchange commercial aviation market forecasts.

A signing ceremony in Beijing was attended by COMAC Chairman Jin Zhuanglong, COMAC President He Dongfeng and Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Jim Albaugh. "Through this collaboration agreement, Boeing and COMAC will build our relationship and will further sustainable growth and fuel efficiency for China's fast-growing aviation market," said Albaugh. "Our new Technology Center shows that two companies in a competitive industry can partner to make progress on important challenges that cannot be solved by one company alone. That is good for customers and passengers, and it's the right thing to do."

The Boeing-COMAC Aviation Energy Conservation and Emissions Reductions Technology Center will be located at COMAC's Beijing Civil Aircraft Technology Research Center. The companies will collaborate with China-based universities and research institutions to expand knowledge of technologies – such as sustainable aviation biofuels, aviation connectivity infrastructure and other areas – that improve commercial aviation's energy efficiency or reduce the industry's carbon emissions. The companies will jointly select and fund each research project.

"This milestone agreement between Boeing and COMAC follows four decades of Boeing partnership with airlines, government agencies, suppliers and research institutions to support the development of China's aviation industry," said Marc Allen, President of Boeing China. "Our hope is that innovative emissions-reduction technologies developed through the Boeing-COMAC Center will advance aviation in China and around the world."

China is one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets. The Civil Aviation Administration of China has forecast that passenger traffic in China will surpass 300 million this year and will reach 1.5 billion passengers in 2030. Boeing has estimated that Chinese airlines will need to buy 5,000 new airplanes by 2030 to meet this extraordinary demand.

FMI: www.boeing.com