The Russians, Chinese and Canadians are rushing into the medium-range aircraft market. Part 2

For Russians and Chinese competing in the aircraft builders' market, this is not only a business, but also a national project.

But Bombardier seems unafraid of competition from two state-backed rivals. Chet Fuller said the Russians are "phenomenal" in engineering and design, but they cannot deliver what airlines expect today: large numbers of aircraft to meet high standards, uninterrupted supply of spare parts, service and customer support. Kirill Budaev, vice-president of Irkut, admits that the company has such shortcomings, so they would like to involve foreign partners in solving these problems. As for Chinese aircraft manufacturers," they are more successful in these matters," Fuller said. Perhaps that's why Bombardier intends to cooperate with Comac. The two types of aircraft could be produced together, and the Canadians could help the Chinese firm go through the rigorous process of getting its C919 certified. Moreover, the two models are not exactly the same, at least in terms of the number of passenger seats: the Chinese airplane has about 200 seats, while the first versions of the Canadian airplane have up to 100.
Airbus' chief operating officer, John Leahy, was asked at a news conference which rising competitors he most fears? "Not the Canadians, not the Russians, not the Chinese," Mr. Leahy replied. Airbus is trying to nip its new competitors in the bud. Instead of designing an entirely new airplane, which would take much longer to produce, Airbus is putting better engines on the airplane and giving the airplane a new series, such as "A320 NEO," Seeing Airbus' orders go up, Boeing decided to do the same by equipping its airplanes with twin-circuit 737″MAX" engines.
The Canadians, Russians and Chinese are counting on the new planes to make them more efficient to put into production than putting modern twin-circuit engines on older planes. But they will have to convince airlines to buy another type of airplane, at a time when many are looking to simplify maintenance to save money.
On the other hand, an offensive by the Canadians, Russians and Chinese in the aircraft manufacturing market will be a useful bargaining tool for airline carriers when negotiating prices for the Boeing 737 and the A320 Airbus. For example, Ryanair, a major buyer of Boeing 737s, has already shown interest in ComacS and Irkut, which will spur Boeing to lower prices.

According to the foreign press for ForTrader.ru