Chinese Aviation Industry

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A model AG600 used for testing stall characteristics.

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I saw this first picture and didn't notice the underslung model at first, and my dumb ol' brain thought for a split second: Wow, the latest iteration of the AG600 sure is different!
 

by78

General
I must admit, I'm surprised since there have been no recent news about the MA700 and the last news was a report concerning issues due to the lack of engines!

But this is the MA700 prototype flying!

So this was indeed correct?
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(Image via @Oneninety from Weibo)

View attachment 86425

in 2018, AECC accelerate the program, finished design in 2019 and first AEP-500 prototype rolled off from assembly line in 2020. small scale trial production has completed in 2021 and 3 units have produced. so AECC officially present prototype in Zhuhai air show last year.

this is not the mock up. its original prototype in air show last October.

View attachment 97833

more pictures during assembly.

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now back to your original question. will it deliver in 2028 ? in 2018 general perception about final delivery indeed was 2028 but embargo from Canada in 2020 have changed entire plan. engine will be certified way sooner than 2028. do you know that, there is also military version of AEP-500 for KJ-600/KJ-500/Y-9 and maybe for Yuan 30 too. PLAAF will gradually replace WJ-6C as engine is too old, cruise speed and fuel consumption are really bad.

MA-700 flew first time in 2022. some local rumors are, plane flew with AEP-500 for flying test. but we don't have any authentic news regarding this. so cannot confirm.
View attachment 97837

According to the Jetliner (大飞机) magazine, which is published by COMAC, the maiden flight of MA700 indeed took place in April 2022, although it doesn't explicitly state what engines it few with. However, the article does mention that two engine options are available for MA700, the first being the AEP500 (5000+ KW or 6700+ hp), whose design was finalized in 2021 and has entered small-batch production. The second and the fallback option is the WJ-6E, which has achieved an output of 6000+ hp.

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gadgetcool5

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COMAC ARJ21: Opening China’s Regional Network?​


Previously, regional flights in China are mainly operated by regional airlines with relatively small networks. Those airlines do not have a lot of opportunities to gather regional passengers to a hub and connect them further. Route planning tends to tilt towards the airport which offers a higher subsidy. China still has a large portion of the population that has no access to air transportation, and the lack of a regional network is one of the factors causing the situation.

In May 2020, COMAC ARJ21s were delivered to Air China, China Southern, and OTT Airlines (a subsidiary of China Eastern) on the same day. Air China positioned its ARJ21s in Hohhot, China, mainly eying on the vast regional market of Inner Mongolia; China Southern used its ARJ21s operating regional flights in the Guangdong area, aiming to solidify its market share in Southern China; China Easter used its ARJ21 for some low-throughput routes, and increased frequency to improve passenger satisfaction.

Outside of everybody’s expectations, the ARJ21 was a perfect complement to the big three airlines all mainline aircraft fleet. Especially during the COVID-19 period, ARJ21 is enough to support the reduced traffics, and maintain air connections between cities. The advantage of a big airline is that they have an extensive network, and ARJ21 did not only thrive in such a network but also unveiled new opportunities for those carriers.

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Article notes 79 ARJ-21's have now been delivered.
 

weig2000

Captain

COMAC ARJ21: Opening China’s Regional Network?​


Previously, regional flights in China are mainly operated by regional airlines with relatively small networks. Those airlines do not have a lot of opportunities to gather regional passengers to a hub and connect them further. Route planning tends to tilt towards the airport which offers a higher subsidy. China still has a large portion of the population that has no access to air transportation, and the lack of a regional network is one of the factors causing the situation.

In May 2020, COMAC ARJ21s were delivered to Air China, China Southern, and OTT Airlines (a subsidiary of China Eastern) on the same day. Air China positioned its ARJ21s in Hohhot, China, mainly eying on the vast regional market of Inner Mongolia; China Southern used its ARJ21s operating regional flights in the Guangdong area, aiming to solidify its market share in Southern China; China Easter used its ARJ21 for some low-throughput routes, and increased frequency to improve passenger satisfaction.

Outside of everybody’s expectations, the ARJ21 was a perfect complement to the big three airlines all mainline aircraft fleet. Especially during the COVID-19 period, ARJ21 is enough to support the reduced traffics, and maintain air connections between cities. The advantage of a big airline is that they have an extensive network, and ARJ21 did not only thrive in such a network but also unveiled new opportunities for those carriers.

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Article notes 79 ARJ-21's have now been delivered.

The challenges to develop regional airlines network in China, at least compared to the US or even Europe, are several:

1. Chinese population are densely populated in the Eastern part of the country (45% of the territory, >80% of the population), which now are increasingly served by extensive high-speed rail network. The HSR services are frequent, cost-competitive and with wide location coverage.

2. China's civilian airports are fewer and tend to be in the big cities. Air traffic between big cities are high (pre-COVID) and can be more economically served with larger single-aisle aircraft (B737 class) or in some cases even with wide-body twin-aisle aircraft (B787 class).

3. Regional aircraft such as ARJ-21 are better suited for connecting smaller airports/cities to larger cities/airports or hubs and the large western part of the country where distances are vast and cities are more isolated and remote. But these western regions of the country such as Xinjiang, Sichuan, Yunan, Guizhou or even Inner Mongolia and Northeast are not as wealthy.

COVID has substantially reduced the air traffic in China in the last few years, but these are likely a short-term phenomenon. They create some needs for smaller regional aircraft like ARJ-21. The longer-term challenges listed above remain though.

There are still market potential for regional jets like ARJ-21 in China, but it will depend on how many airports are built over time in smaller cities and the economic development in smaller cities and the western part of the country.
 

tphuang

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Nah arj21 is a failure. It's main purpose is to give comac experience in developing airliner so that they would make fewer mistakes on c919.
 
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