Netizens asked, why do they still buy Boeing aircraft after the delivery of the domestic C919?
China's self-developed C919 aircraft has been delivered and is undergoing a 100-hour validation test flight with its first customer, China Eastern Airlines. After the test flight is completed, the aircraft is basically ready for commercial operation. When the self-developed C919 began to develop and needed a large number of orders, why did Chinese airlines spend $10 billion to buy Boeing aircraft?
China is an extremely important market for Boeing, which has been operating in China for 50 years. In this half-century history, Boeing has cooperated with all of China's civil airlines.
Boeing not only sells aircraft to Chinese customers, but also needs to buy important parts and materials from China, and the relationship is mutually beneficial. But some of the actions of the United States have disrupted the market order and made Chinese civil aviation companies think carefully when buying planes from Boeing.
In 2022, Boeing delivered 12 aircraft to the Chinese market, while France's Airbus delivered 112 aircraft to China.
This is a very big gap, and it also shows the willingness of Chinese airlines to choose, and I don't think anyone wants to be caught in the middle of all kinds of variables. When it is necessary to buy an aircraft, the domestic C919 has become a leading choice, which is expected to break the monopoly of Boeing and Airbus.
In December last year, the world's first COMAC C919 aircraft was delivered to its first customer, China Eastern Airlines, and is currently undergoing a 100-hour test flight on China Eastern Airlines, ready to be put into commercial passenger flights.
However, at this critical moment, Hong Kong's Greater Bay Area Airlines spent tens of billions of dollars to buy Boeing aircraft.
It is reported that Hong Kong Greater Bay Airlines has purchased 15 737-9MAX and proposed to purchase 5 787 Dreamliners, with a total order value of 150.7 billion US dollars, equivalent to 10.3 billion yuan.
This is a large order, and the total order book has already exceeded Boeing's deliveries in the Chinese market last year. For the cooperation of this order, Boeing CEO Stan Dill said enthusiastically:"The Chinese market is an integral part. "
It is estimated that this is the largest order signed by Boeing in China in recent years, and it is expected to restore economic revenues in the Chinese market. Netizens broke the news that compared with the cooperation between Hong Kong Greater Bay Airlines and Boeing, people seem to be more concerned about not buying China's C919.
The first point: the capacity of the C919 needs to be improved.
Hong Kong Greater Bay Airlines is a very young airline, having only obtained its operating license in February 2022 and officially launched commercial operations in the second half of the same year. Compared with other established airlines, Greater Bay Airlines needs to quickly replenish aircraft resources and expand commercial scale.
This requires aircraft manufacturers to have sufficient production capacity and be able to deliver quickly at short notice. Production capacity for the C919 has not yet been renewed, and while the first aircraft has already been delivered, production is still ramping up for follow-up orders.
There are already more than 1,200 orders for the C919, and initial production will definitely be in short supply, and it is believed that more orders will be received in the future when the production capacity is sufficient.
Boeing and Airbus have production lines all over the world, with the capacity to deliver orders of more than four to five hundred aircraft per year. What's more, Boeing's order volume last year was only 480 aircraft, far lower than Airbus's 661, which means that as long as Boeing accepts the order, it will be delivered quickly and there is no need to wait long.
The second aspect: the market conversion of airworthiness certificates.
C919 meets international design and development standards, and sooner or later it will have to be introduced to the international market, so it must be supported by European and American airworthiness certificates.
For European and American countries, it is estimated that they will not let the C919 successfully obtain the airworthiness certificate, after all, the emergence of a competitor to carve up the market is not very beneficial to them. But.
If the existence of the C919 can bring mutual benefits, Chinese aviation companies will continue to buy aircraft from the West, and the West will also issue airworthiness certificates for the C919, achieving a real win-win situation. It's not that with the C919, China won't buy foreign aircraft.
C919 from project approval to delivery, lasted 17 years, mobilized almost all China's aviation research institutes, universities and businessmen, with the cooperation of all China's aviation research institutes, universities and businessmen, successfully manufactured C919, and carried out a series of test flights and first flights.
The expectations for the C919 are understandable, and it would be better if Chinese airlines could support the C919, which shows that China has the ability to compete in the passenger aircraft market. But the C919 will not monopolize and will coexist with Boeing and Airbus.
Therefore, the choice of C919 by domestic and foreign airlines must be objective and rational, and it is normal to sell or not to sell, as long as the strength is enough and the capacity is up, the order of C919 is not worried.