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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 1784.PDF
J£A£JLWS3 China in talks to build 528JET PAUL LEWIS/OBERPFAFFENHOFEN FAIRCHILD DORMER is embarking on a collaborative market and technical study with China Aviation Industry Corp I (AVIC I) to examine die feasibility ofproducing the proposed 528JET in China. The company is debating whether to develop the 50-60 seater or the larger 110-seat X28JET as die next member of its regional aircraft family. "China would like a 50-60 seater and we're talking to diem about a possible relationship," says Lou Harrington, Fairchild Dornier president. "This could be a very substantial market over the long term, and it fills a gap we have right now. We have a 30-seater and are jumping up to a 70-seater." Fairchild is already developing die 72 8JET, which is due to fly next March. The company is commit ted to the 90-seat stretch 928JET, but is undecided whether to opt for a 110-seater or a 50-60 seat follow- on. AVIC I is looking for a regional successor to the Xian Y-7 turbo prop in the form of an indigenous development or collaborative effort. It is likely the development would be an alternative to China's wider regional jet aspirations. "China is interested in expand ing its industrial capabilities and is looking at the possibilities for developing and fielding an aircraft in the 50-seater category," says Harrington. "Neither side is ready to make a commitment, so Fairchild has tasted regional success in China with 32 8JET sales to Hainan together we're doing a technical and economic study to determine whether to go forward." Fairchild is following in the steps of a number of earlier attempts at collaborative aerospace develop ments with China, few of which Chinese Government pledges support for 70-seater jet The Chinese Government has pledged to provide 2 billion yuan ($242 million) to state manufacturing companies to develop a planned 70-seat regional jet aircraft. State-run media report that the 70-seater, which has been under consideration for some time, is now a serious project. All major domes tic manufacturing companies will take part. Production is hoped to begin in 2004, the reports say, and the project will be headed by China Aviation Industry Corp I (AVIC I), which will invest 20 million yuan. Shanghai Aviation Industrial, Xian Aircraft Industrial and Chengdu Aircraft Industrial will each give 5 million yuan, while Shenyang Aircraft Industrial will provide 3 million yuan. Smaller companies will also make investments, and foreign partici pation will be sought. Chengdu Aircraft chairman Yang Tingkuo says the central government is to provide 2 bil lion yuan, that market research is complete and that the designs will soon be made public. Designs unveiled three years ago showed an aircraft with a four-abreast cabin layout and two western-made engines mounted at the rear. China has long held aspirations to build its own regional jet, and in 1998 AVIC I sub sidiaries unveiled plans for a 50-70-seater dubbed the New Regional Jet (NRJ). The gov ernment failed to back the programme, howev er, and it languished until last November, when AVIC I said Beijing finally agreed to support it. The government has been aggressively pro moting the use of regional jets for the past two years. This has led to sales for Bombardier, Embraer and Fairchild Dornier. got off the ground. AVIC curtailed the Boeing MD-90 TrunkLiner programme after failing to find local buyers for the licence-built twin jet, while Airbus' proposed 100-seat AE3IX joint venture did not get beyond the drawing board. "We're not underestimating the difficulties, but it's a market you don't want to turn your back on," says Harrington, a former McDonnell Douglas executive. Fairchild is encouraged by the recent emergence of regional air transportation in China, which has been partly pioneered by Hainan Airlines using 328 turboprops. It has since ordered 19 328JETS and is awaiting Beijing's blessing to purchase another 21, while also expressing interest in the 728JET Fairchild, as an initial step, has identified some 328/728JET structural subassemblies and coril- ? ponent work which AVIC I has • been invited to bid on. "This is to ensure we can work together and they can produce quality parts and to a schedule that we need," Harrington says. • EADS buys into Australian market with Hawker Pacific acquisition PETER LA FRANCHI/CANBERRA EADS HAS MADE its first acquisition in the defence field in an agreement with Saab Aviation Services to sell the military aircraft division of Sydney-based Hawker Pacific to the European giant. A deal is expected to be announced in the next few days. The sale is understood to have been finalised earlier this month and provides EADS with its first industrial pres ence in the Australian market. Hawker Pacific's military aircraft division holds extensive contracts with the Australian Department of Defence, including deep level maintenance for the Royal Australian Air Force's Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribous and Dassault Aviation Falcon 900s. The sale comprises 30% of Hawker Pacific's Australian opera tions and follows an extended search for a new owner after Saab elected to shift out of the aviation marketplace in Australia following its own take-over of Sweden's Celsius last year. Celsius acquired Hawker Pacific from UK-based industrial group BTR in 1998. Saab says negotia tions are still ongoing and "we decline to speak any further". EADS declines to comment but the purchase would be in line with the Airbus dominated group's efforts to increase sales in the defence sector - although this is likely to be achieved primarily by electronics sector acquisitions. Australian industry sources say Saab is seeking a separate buyer for the commercial aircraft division of Hawker Pacific. • 4 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 22 - 28 May 2001
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