Boeing-Airbus monopoly threatens to collapse
“For a while, only Chinese airlines will buy those planes.
Guillaume Foley, CEO of Airbus Europe, a manufacturer that divides the world’s passenger aircraft market in half with Boeing, learned about the performance of the Chinese-made jet airliner “C919” and attended a forum to think about the future of the United States and Europe.commentbottom.
China Commercial Aircraft Corporation (COMAC) C919, China’s first domestically produced large passenger aircraft, lands at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport on January 16, 2023 in Hubei Province, China.
The world’s widely used jetliner market is currently dominated by two companies, Boeing and Airbus. However, is the ability of Chinese jet aircraft so excellent that Foley CEO leaves such a surprising comment? I would like to analyze it with objective facts and materials.
“Boeing will lose market share in China.”
On December 9, last year in Shanghai, China’s first domestic passenger aircraft manufacturer, China Commercial Airplanes (COMAC) “C919” was handed over to China Eastern Airlines (CEA) as an aircraft for commercial operation. CEA has decided to officially launch a route in the spring of 2023, and “a plane made by China” will fly in the sky with people on board.
Airbus, led by CEO Foley, is mass-producing the “A320 family”, which can be said to be the best-selling narrow-body aircraft (one-aisle aircraft) with a capacity of 180 to 200 people. From 2016, an improved model equipped with an environmentally friendly engine called “A320neo (new engine option)” began to fly.
In addition, we also developed the “A320XLR”, which has a cruising range of 6500-7000km to 8600km.
Foley claims that the C919 will become a strong competitor to the Airbus A320neo by the end of the decade. Moreover, he predicted that with the advent of the C919, “the narrow-body aircraft market will gradually transform into a ‘tripolarization’ of Airbus, Boeing, and COMAC.”
One U.S. aviation analyst pointed out, “If COMAC aircraft become popular, Boeing will inevitably lose market share in China.” Is the C919 so promising in the future?
