General Electric  has signed 2.1 billion deals with China’s major airline players, the firm said at the country’s biggest aviation exhibition held in Zhuhai this week.

The sign over the entrance to a General Electric Co. facility is seen in Medford, Massachusetts July 17, 2009. Shares of GE fell five percent on Friday after it reported a profit that topped Wall Street’s expectations, but a 17 percent drop in revenue that was sharper than analysts had foreseen. GE has got four deals for  engines and services with three leading Chinese carriers, including Air China, China Eastern Airlines and the HNA Group.

GE got a contract for 42 engines for HNA Group’s Airbus A320s, to be delivered at the beginning of 2012, with the co-operation of Snecma of France.  GE also secured contract for 20 engines from Air China, 30 engines from China Eastern Airlines and a long-term service agreement on maintenance of the CFM56-5B-powered HNA Group A320 fleet.

Both the Air China and China Eastern deals were first announced at the Farnborough Air Show, UK, earlier this year.

Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Limited had received one hundred launch orders for their C919 aircraft,  , while GE’s joint venture, called CFM International, will provide all of the engines for those planes.

"China is the fastest-growing aviation market in the world. These latest investments and agreements ensure GE’s long-term participation in China’s air transportation boom," said John Rice, GE vice chairman and head of international operations.

GE started doing business in China in 1906. Now all GE businesses have set up operations in China with 36 wholly owned entities and joint ventures in manufacturing, service and R&D. GE employs 14,000 people in China.

AC311 makes a successful maiden flight

The domestically-made AC311 light utility helicopter rolled off the assembly line and made a successful maiden flight in Tianjin on Nov. 8.

An AC311 multi-purpose helicopter, developed and manufactured by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), is seen during its first test flight in Tianjing, north China on Nov. 8, 2010.

The two-ton helicopter has a seating capacity of six and can be used for flight training, policing, communication command, aerial photography, medical aid, power line patrol, forest fire prevention and pest control.

The domestically-made AC311 is a 2-ton light utility helicopter capable of loading six people with a maximum carrying capacity of 2,200 kilograms.

The AC311 helicopter can be widely used for various tasks, including flight training, personnel transport, public security patrols, communication and command, aerial photography, medical aid, power line inspection, forest fire protection and aerial pest control.

It was reported that the AC311 helicopter was scheduled to be certified by the China Civil Aviation Administration in October 2011 and run into the market operation in 2012. The market demand is expected to reach 500 in the next 10 years.

The AC311 light utility helicopter was independently researched and developed by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China.

Comac Sees First C919 Order as China Challenges Airbus, Boeing

China’s challenger to Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS expects to announce the first order for its single- aisle passenger plane next week, breaking into a market that may be worth $1.68 trillion over 20 years.

Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China plans to announce the C919 deal at Airshow China, held in the southern city of Zhuhai, Yuan Wenfeng, deputy general manager at its program management department, said by phone last week. He declined to say how large the order will be or who the customer is.

The C919 increases competition for Boeing’s 737 and Airbus’s A320 in the narrowbody segment that will be the largest part of the global plane market through 2029, according to Boeing. The Zhuhai exhibition, which starts Nov. 16, will also feature debuts for a dozen locally developed planes and the first show flight for Comac’s ARJ21 regional jet, as China showcases efforts to develop its aerospace industry.

“This is a big breakthrough for China, which will eventually become a player in the global aircraft market,” said Bai Bingyang, an analyst at Capital Securities Corp in Shanghai. “Boeing and Airbus’s duopoly will be under threat.”

Government-controlled Comac may sell more than 2,000 C919s worldwide over 20 years, Yuan said in February. The company aims to announce orders for 100 this year, he said then. Air China Ltd., China Southern Airlines Co. and China Eastern Airlines Corp., the nation’s big three state-controlled carriers, have all said they will support local planemakers.

“The C919 is a project that China is determined to make a mark with,” said Armand Cao, a Shanghai-based analyst at Frost & Sullivan China. The first orders will likely come from domestic carriers, he said.

Narrowbody Competition

The 168-seater C919 is due to enter service in 2014. The ARJ21, which is running at least a year behind schedule, can carry about 70 passengers. Comac signed an order for as many as 25 ARJ21s with GE’s plane-leasing arm at the 2008 Zhuhai show, its first overseas deal.

State-controlled Comac will have a 1,500 square-meter stand at this year’s Zhuhai show, which runs from Nov. 16 to Nov. 21. The event will feature about 600 exhibitors, including Boeing, Airbus, Rolls-Royce Group Plc and Honeywell International Inc., according to the organizers. China’s J-10 fighter jet, Bombardier Inc. business jets and Airbus’s A380 will be among the roughly 70 planes on display.

“We’re expecting strong interest and a large turnout,” Yuan said. “China’s aviation industry has been growing very rapidly and this momentum will continue.”

GE, Honeywell

Comac is working with overseas suppliers on the C919, including CFM International Inc., a venture between General Electric Co. and Safran SA that has won a $10 billion contract to make the plane’s engines. Other suppliers include Honeywell, United Technologies Corp. and Parker Hannifin Corp.

Chinese airlines have continued to buy Boeing and Airbus planes even as China develops its own aircraft. Last week, Toulouse, France-based Airbus won orders for 102 planes from China, including 50 A320s. The planemaker will assemble half of the single-aisle planes at a plant in Tianjin, China, its only production line outside of Europe. Boeing has won 737 orders from Air China and Okay Airways Co. this year.

China will likely need 4,330 new planes, worth $480 billion, by 2029, according to Chicago-based Boeing, as economic growth spurs leisure and business travel. Nationwide airline passenger numbers jumped 18 percent from a year earlier in the first nine months to 200.7 million, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

The growth in China and other markets means that the global narrowbody fleet will likely more than double by 2029 to 25,000 planes, according to Boeing’s forecast. Such expansion may be enough to sustain an increasing number of suppliers, said Randy Tinseth, the planemaker’s marketing vice president.

“That’s clearly room for us to grow, that’s room for Airbus to grow and that’s probably room for one or more competitors,” he said last week in Beijing.

China's Comac signs deals for 100 aircraft orders

ZHUHAI, China – China's Comac has signed orders to sell 100 of its homegrown single-aisle C919 passenger jets to Chinese airlines and international customers, mounting a challenge to Boeing and Airbus in one of the world's biggest aircraft markets.

The orders were signed Tuesday at the Zhuhai air show in southern China, state-owned Comac said in a news release. Customers include Chinese flag carrier Air China and major carriers China Southern and China Eastern, together with airplane leasing company GE Capital Aviation Services of the United States, Comac said.

No details were given about how many planes were ordered by each customer or the prices they were to pay. Comac aims to complete the plane in two years, with the first test flight planned for 2014 and a target delivery date of 2016.

"The confirmation from the original launch customers creates a market foundation for the C919 large passenger plane which is smoothly moving from the research and development stage into the build stage," Comac Chairman Zhang Qingwei said in the statement.

The 150-seat C919 is a prospective competitor to the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, particularly in the Chinese market, where Boeing estimates that domestic airlines are expected to add 4,330 aircraft worth $480 billion by 2029, up from a forecast last year of 3,770 planes worth $400 billion.

The plane follows the 70- to 110-seat ARJ21 as the second modern commercial airliner to be developed in China, a source of huge pride for the country's economic planners who are determined to become global players in major industries such as commercial aircraft.

The ARJ-21, also being built by Comac, already has a backlog of about 240 firm orders and options, mostly from domestic carriers but also from GE Capital Aviation Services and Lao Airlines.

PAF team to take part in China aviation exhibition

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan Air Force (PAF) contingent comprising JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft and the ‘Sherdils’ formation aerobatics team, along with pilots and technicians, departed for China to participate in the forthcoming eight International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai from November 16 till November 21.

The PAF Sherdils formation aerobatics team comprising nine K-8 aircraft will perform an aerial display during the air show. This is for the first time that a PAF Sherdil formation aerobatic team will perform in any international event of this stature.

Three indigenously manufactured JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft would also be on aerial/static display at the exhibition. World famous exhibitors like Boeing, Airbus, Honeywell, Rolls-Royce etc will also be participating in the exhibition. The Red Eagles Aerobatic team from the US and the ASB aerobatic team from the UK have also confirmed their participation in the exhibition.

China to host global aircraft expo Nov 16

Beijing, Nov 9 (IANS) About 70 aircraft models from across the globe will be showcased at the upcoming international aviation expo Nov 16 in China, a media report said Tuesday.

The 8th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition will be launched in southern Zhuhai prefecture, the organizers said.

Some 600 exhibitors are to take part in the event, organizer Zhuhai Airshow Co. Ltd. said in a press conference in Hong Kong.

The show, with a floorspace of 23,000 sq. meters, will feature about 70 aircraft, including commercial and military planes, from 35 countries and regions.

The Chinese Air Force will bring a number of aircraft that were displayed at the 60th National Day Parade.
During the week-long event, about 40 summit forums, press conferences, contract signing ceremonies and product briefings will be held.

The China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, was first held in 1996. It takes place biennially in Zhuhai.

Chinese Airlines Lower Prices to Attract Passengers

Chinese airlines are offering discounted tickets to attract lost passengers due to the rise in fuel costs, the Chongqing Evening News reported on Nov. 10.

Airlines in the country raised fuel surcharge for routes shorter than 800 kilometers from 20 yuan to 40 yuan and longer than 800 kilometers from 40 yuan to 70 yuan per capita for adult passengers starting Oct. 27.

After the re-imposition of the fuel surcharge, many people chose to take flights in early morning or late night, because those flights often offer discounts.

Passengers of daytime flights have been reduced by 30 percent for some airlines, the report said.

Major Chinese carriers, including Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Shandong Airlines, plan to lower ticket prices for daytime flights by 10 to 20 percent to secure more passengers. China Southern Airlines, Air China and China Eastern Airlines, for instance, consumed 3.31, 2.99 and 2.6 million tons of aviation fuel individually in 2009, according to their financial statements quoted by the report.

As 70 to 80 percent of their flights are domestic, the nation's three biggest carriers will all face an increased expense of 400 to 580 million yuan annually with domestic aviation fuel prices raised by 220 yuan per ton.

The specially-priced flight tickets plus the fuel fees are sometimes even cheaper than railway tickets.

The CRH train ticket from Guangzhou to Wuhan is 780 yuan and the travel time is about three hours and 15 minutes; while the special-price flight ticket auctioned online costs 263 yuan and the flight takes one hour and 40 minutes, the Dongguan Times reported.

 Boeing Airplane Health Management Activated on Air China 737 Fleet

On Nov. 17, Boeing and Air China said that the initial release of Boeing's Airplane Health Management (AHM) system is now active on 40 airplanes in the airline's Next-Generation 737 fleet, providing information on the condition of airplanes during flight operations

"We are quite excited to begin seeing the benefits of Airplane Health Management," said Zhong Dechao, deputy chief engineer of Air China. "AHM will help us improve our maintenance efficiency and will benefit our passengers with an even higher level of on-time performance."

Airplane Health Management allows Air China to gather and evaluate critical real-time in-flight flying condition data, relaying airplane information to ground controllers. This visibility allows the airline to better plan and perform repairs, minimizing scheduling impacts.

AHM also supports long-term fleet reliability by helping airlines identify and respond to faults proactively. Fleet-wide history and knowledge from multiple operators is available to help guide repair decisions on same-model airplanes, improving reliability and efficiency.

Air China last year contracted with Boeing for AHM on a total of 117 Air China 737s that are in service and on order. Air China is Boeing's first Chinese customer for AHM.

Airplane Health Management is a key component in Boeing's larger vision of Lifecycle Solutions -- improving airline efficiency with digital productivity tools, product and industry expertise and the power of aviation's leading integrated supply chain, supporting Boeing airplanes from order placement through retirement.

Boeing Raises China Outlook for Airplane Demand

Boeing, China's leading provider of passenger airplanes, forecasts that China will require 4,330 new commercial airplanes valued at US$480 billion over the next 20 years, with the bulk of new deliveries expected to be for fuel-efficient, single-aisle airplanes. Over the forecast period, China will triple in airplane fleet size, making it the largest airplane market outside of the U.S.

"China is one of the world's fastest growing and dynamic aviation markets, driven by the urbanization of China, the growth of its economy and ever-increasing personal wealth," said Randy Tinseth, vice president of Marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, who released Boeing's 2010 China market outlook in Beijing recently. "We expect domestic passenger traffic for China to grow at a rate of 7.9 percent on average."

Boeing forecasts that 71 percent of China's demand will be for single-aisle airplanes, with total deliveries reaching 3,090.

Boeing continues to make improvements to the 737 in terms of fuel efficiency, passenger experience and environmental performance, Tinseth said. The Next-Generation 737-900ER (extended range) is the newest addition to Boeing's single-aisle family of airplanes.

Intermediate twin-aisles such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777 will see approximately 890 airplane deliveries. When combined, the single-aisle and intermediate twin-aisle market will make up 92 percent of China's total delivery dollars. Demand also will include a limited number of large airplanes (747-size and larger) to connect China with other major world destinations. The market forecast calls for about 70 airplanes in that category.

With China's cargo markets leading the global industry, Chinese air carriers will add about 330 freighter airplanes by 2029. China's total fleet of freighter airplanes will more than triple in size.

Tinseth also underscored the long-standing partnership between Boeing and Chinese partners.

"Boeing's equity investment in China is considerable, and the aviation goods and services we buy from China is significantly greater than other aviation companies," Tinseth said. "In the coming years, Boeing purchases are expected to exceed US$3 billion."

Tinseth noted that there are more than 5,700 Boeing airplanes flying throughout the world with parts and assemblies built by China. China has a role on all of the Boeing commercial airplane models - 737, 747, 767, 777, and the newest and most innovative airplane, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

China Eastern Airlines Posts 3.15 Billion Yuan Third-Quarter Net Income

China Eastern Airlines (CEA) reported net income of 3.15 billion yuan (US$470 million) in the third quarter, significantly widened from 23.16 million yuan earned in the year-ago period.

The carrier cited "the synergy effect achieved through [its] merger with Shanghai Airlines" and "robust growth of the domestic market demand, especially stimulated by the Shanghai World Expo" as reasons for the much-improved performance.

Operating revenues climbed 91.4% to 21.83 billion yuan while operating expenses jumped 61% to 18.73 billion yuan. It didn't disclose the relevant figure for passenger boarding and cargo traffic volume.

CEA had a net profit of 5.10 billion yuan for the first nine months of this year, a more than four-fold increase over net income of 1.19 billion yuan posted in the same period of last year.

Looking ahead, MD Ma Xulun predicted domestic market demand would continue its strong growth. For this reason, CEA is deepening its exploration of domestic market potential as it boosts flight frequencies from Shanghai to Chengdu, Ganzhou and Huai'an, as announced in the new winter and spring flight schedules.

CEA is also accelerating the pace of international expansion by increasing flight frequencies to Sydney and Melbourne. In addition, the carrier is planning to launch service to Rome. Airline Chairman Liu Shaoyong said previously that CEA is planning an ambitious international expansion next year and hopes to open more routes to Europe, U.S. and Australia.