China-made engines roar to life as Shanghai air show returns from hiatus

Name: China’s C919 passenger jet completes maiden commercial flight from Shanghai to Beijing
Uploaded: 2023-11-23T11:00:29.000Z
Duration: 3 min 1 s
Description: China’s C919 passenger jet completes maiden commercial flight from Shanghai to Beijing

The Shanghai International Commercial Airshow, an industry event not held in four years, has made its return

Chinese manufacturers tout accomplishments in engine production and international cooperation, with showpiece plane C919 still the main attraction

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For the first time since 2019, the three-day Shanghai International Commercial Airshow has taken wing. Photo: Shanghai International Commercial Airshow

Amanda Leein Shanghai

Published: 7:00pm, 23 Nov 2023Updated: 10:57am, 24 Nov 2023

For the first time since 2019, the three-day Shanghai International Commercial Airshow has taken wing. The industry showcase is putting China’s indigenous engine designs in the spotlight, in particular a likely future power source for the C919 – the home-grown jet serving as a symbol of the country’s advancement in aviation, a notoriously technical and globally interlocked industry.

Chen Shaoyang, vice-president of the state-owned Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC), one of the show’s organisers, said the company would “open up and cooperate” with both domestic and international companies.

“The AECC wishes to work with both domestic and international partners, thriving in new opportunities and exploring new collaboration,” Chen said at the opening ceremony on Thursday. The Shanghai air show is being held at the same time as Aero Asia in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, another industry gathering putting Chinese manufacturers front and centre.

China’s domestic market requires thousands of new aircraft

Alex Vlielander, Liebherr-Aerospace

The AECC is the architect of the CJ-1000A high-bypass turbofan jet engine, intended to eventually power future generations of the C919. The airliner currently uses the LEAP engine made by CFM International, a joint venture between the US’ GE Aerospace and France’s Safran Aircraft Engines.

A number of foreign joint venture partners with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) were present at the air show, including Germany’s Liebherr-Aerospace. Comac manufactures the C919, which was produced to compete with Boeing’s 737 and Airbus’s A320 and entered commercial operation in May after more than 14 years of development.

Liebherr-Aerospace is responsible for the development of the landing gear system on the C919, and its components are also being used on Comac’s ARJ21 regional jet.

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China’s C919 passenger jet completes maiden commercial flight from Shanghai to Beijing

“Liebherr-Aerospace expects a strong production ramp-up at Comac, as China’s domestic market requires thousands of new aircraft in the coming 20 years to comply with increasing demand,” said Alex Vlielander, chief customer officer at Liebherr-Aerospace. “Liebherr foresees that the ARJ21 and C919 will be a market success.”

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