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China's aviation industry

longbow

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1) They are a huge market for Boeing and Airbus.

2) Now Chinese banks offer financing not only for planes purchased for Chinese market by those sold in international market - Qantas A380, Southwest airlines.

3) In this tight credit situation Airbus/Boeing is desperate to find financing for its buyers and the Chinese are helping (they have lots of US$) - So in effect they need Chinese help to sell more planes in international markets

4) Financing planes also means financing engines.

Chinese aims to become global player in aircraft manufacturing. With this type of influence they can easily persuade Airbus or Boeing and GE or PW or RR to set up more plants, technology transfer in China. After all they could ratchet up pressure and offer to buy planes only from airbus or Boeing and do the same for financing.

As you know, once the plant is up you start having a whole generation of Airbus/Boeing trained Chinese workers with their level of QC, a whole generation of Chinese managers - basically how 1st world nations build planes after that ..........

Of course Beoing /Airbus CEO knows what is happening but shareholders and bonus depends on profits. So what can you do? Play hardball and lose marketshare to the competitor?



Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Airbus SAS said more carriers are relying on Chinese financial services firms to fund aircraft purchases, helping keep deliveries near a record this year.

Deals backed by Chinese institutions in the last year include Bank of China BOC Aviation’s sale-lease-back of three Southwest Airlines Inc. planes, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd.’s first international leasing transaction, with British Airways Plc. Nigel Taylor, who leads Airbus’s aircraft finance, said China will gain more clout this year.

“The great advantage of China is that the country still has a fairly deep pocket of dollars, which is perhaps the major reason for their beginning to be more active than some of the historical lessors,” Taylor said in an interview from Toulouse, France, where Airbus is based.

The ascent of Chinese institutions from local funding suppliers to a global stage reflects the country’s rise in the air-travel industry. Chinese airlines will account for 20 percent of all Airbus planes delivered in 2010, compared with 3.5 percent a decade ago, with the majority of those jets getting funding from their home country, Taylor predicted.

The 979 planes delivered globally last year required some $70 billion in financing. Transactions include cash purchases, often refinanced with bank debt or sale-lease-backs; commercial bank debt; bank debt backed by government export credit agencies; rentals lessors such as General Electric Co.’s Gecas, as well as funding from capital markets, including loans that package multiple planes from different airlines to spread risk.

Chinese Accord

Chinese institutions over the last two years also arranged a syndicated bank facility for Qantas Airways Ltd.’s first two A380 superjumbos. Other non-Chinese airlines that have benefited from Chinese financing include Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Air France KLM Group and Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd.

Airbus signed an accord earlier this week with CDB Leasing Co., one of China’s largest leasing companies, for financing of support sale and leaseback transactions of as much as $4 billion over the next five years for Airbus aircraft. The company last year set up a final assembly plant in China to serve the market.

Planemakers have an interest to act as intermediary between airlines and the financing side whenever airlines struggle to get commercial banks or capital markets onboard for a purchase. A single-aisle plane, the most widely purchased planes in the industry, has a list price from $50 million to $90 million, while wide-body planes cost more than twice as much.

Record Deliveries

The record number of planes delivered by Airbus and Boeing last year defied concern that airlines would have trouble financing transactions in the wake of the steepest economic contraction in half a decade. This year, Airbus and Boeing aim to maintain deliveries at a similar level, they said.

Commercial deliveries will fall to 460 to 465 aircraft this year, after 481 aircraft shipped to customers in 2009, Boeing predicts. Airbus had 498 shipments last year, retaining the title held since 2003 as the largest commercial-plane builder.

Chinese institutions showed their resilience last year, provided financing for all aircraft shipments into the country without backing from either the U.S. Export Import Bank or European credit agencies. Airbus entered 2009 predicting it would need up to 50 percent of all deliveries backed by government guarantees, and the final tally came to just 34 percent. Boeing only needed state backing on 26 percent of jets.

‘Solid Job’

“Chinese financial institutions have done a solid job of financing airlines in China; now they’re expanding rapidly beyond Chinese borders, and that should continue,” said John Leahy, the chief operating officer at Airbus.

Boeing has also pursued greater links with Chinese banks. Chinese financial institutions financed about 10 percent of all 2009 deliveries, including both commercial bank debt financing and Chinese lessors, according to Kostya Zolotusky, the managing director of Boeing’s financial services unit.

Boeing last November joined with CDB Leasing and China Construction Bank, bringing to six the number of Chinese organizations working with the planemaker, as the U.S. company seeks to expand its presence in the world’s fastest growing aviation market.

“All the fundamentals are there: an economy running a significant surplus with a strong banking sector, so aircraft that are deployable globally and are very liquid assets become attractive to them,” Zolotusky said. “They’re becoming an important contributor to the global aircraft finance market and we anticipate that this will continue.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Andrea Rothman in Toulouse, France at [email protected]

Last Updated: January 27, 2010 19:01 EST
 
Again first step is to their QC, supply chain, suppliers,
testing. What is to stop the Chinese from offering the parts suppliers (avionics) incentives to setup operations. They just use their usual selling points - huge market, here is bag full of $$$, JV operations.


Final assembly work means you get to see the entire supply chain as well as quality and testing. It is easy to buy a jet and dismantle it and look at its parts but the black art is how to QC, train workers, best practices, testing (a poorly insulated wire could bring a plane down!) and put together all the parts. It is a whole culture we are talking about.

Airbus globalises production with China plant


by Staff Writers
Paris (AFP) Sept 25, 2008
European aircraft giant Airbus will take a major step towards the globalisation of its production on Sunday with the opening of a new assembly line in the Chinese port of Tianjin.
The plant is the firm's first outside of Europe and gives Airbus a foothold in a market hungry for new planes and hotly contested by its US rival Boeing.

"Our goal is to produce four planes per month by 2011, but I wouldn't be surprised if we achieved this earlier," Airbus CEO Thomas Enders said recently.

The Tianjin plant was constructed 100 kilometres (62 miles) outside Beijing in a port city and is a carbon copy of Airbus' site in Hamburg, Germany, which assembles the A320 jet, the group's family of single-aisle airliners.

Work began on the site in August, but the official opening was delayed so as not to clash with the Beijing Olympics.

Airbus sales have been under pressure from the recent strength of the euro against the dollar, rising fuel prices and the economic downturn.

Breaking into the huge Chinese market, where strong domestic growth has helped insulate the economy from the chaos on the world market, has been identified as key to keeping the European supplier competitive with Boeing.

The American manufacturer has historically dominated in China, but Airbus has a growing market share and has stolen a march with the Tianjin plant.

Boeing makes aircraft components in China but has no assembly lines outside the United States.

Nevertheless, Airbus' global expansion strategy has worried European unions, which fear the outsourcing of jobs to cheaper regions, and concerns have been raised about the transfer of high-technology knowhow to a strategic competitor.

But these doubts are overblown, experts insist.

Firstly, Tianjin is not designed to replace exports to Airbus' existing markets, but to supply China, which the firm estimates will soak up 2,800 planes over the next two decades, 11.6 percent of global demand.

Secondly, the plant is an assembly line for components manufactured elsewhere, a process which represents only a small part of the work.

"Psychologically it seems important to see a plane roll off the production line, but the line represents only three to four percent of its total value," estimated one expert in the sector.

The new factory represents a powerful political gesture in a promising market, but does it create a risk that Airbus' cutting-edge engineering will be pirated by Chinese competitors?

After all, in May the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (CACC) opened its doors. By 2020 it plans to be building a 150-seat airliner, a direct competitor to the A320, at a plant in Shanghai.

Industry experts, however, are unconcerned.

"Theoretically, by dismantling the components that are sent them with the wiring already attached, the Chinese could get access to technology they haven't yet mastered themselves," said aviation author Pierre Sparaco.

"But, in principle, they could just as easily do that to an A320 already flying in their fleet," he added.

In any case the A320, which was launched in 1984, is no longer the most modern in Airbus' inventory, which now includes the A380 superjumbo and the future long-haul A350.

Tianjin's first order will be filled in the middle of next year, when regional carrier Sichuan Airlines will receive its A320.

By 2011 the site will employ 600 people. For the moment, it hosts 100 Europeans and 290 Chinese, many of them trained by English-speaking German and French colleagues in Hamburg and Toulouse.
 
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Well China needs jet engine so CFM (JV between GE and Safran of France) will build plant in China for final assembly and testing :-). BTW this is for a brand new engine!

If you look at it Beijing is putting all the peices of puzzle together!!


CFM and ACAE sign MOU for LEAP-X1C assembly line In China

BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CFM International (CFM) and AVIC Commercial Aircraft Engine Company (ACAE) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a world-class final assembly line and engine test facility to support the LEAP-X1C engine selected to power the new COMAC C919 150-passenger aircraft scheduled to enter commercial service in 2016.

COMAC, which announced the LEAP-X1C engine as the sole western powerplant to launch the C919, forecasts a global market for more than 2,000 aircraft over 20 years.

ACAE and CFM have established a working team to evaluate the scope and feasibility of a LEAP-X1C final engine assembly and test facility in China. This same team will formulate the business plan and develop the legal structure and operating agreement for the proposed joint venture.

Press release issued by CFM International Inc. on December 21, 2009
 
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Here is more details of this new GE designed engine. It is a state of the art engine and assembly and testing (QC) will be done in China!..


GE jet engine joint venture to power China’s new plane
One of the most advanced jet engines soon to enter service has just been selected as the sole western power plant for China’s new C919 single-aisle, 150-seat passenger jet. Made by CFM International, which is a 50/50 joint venture between GE and SAFRAN Group, the engine could end up powering more than 2,000 planes over the next 20 years based on estimates by the developer and manufacturer of the C919, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, or COMAC. As Bloomberg News reports in its story today, with narrowbody jetliners making up more than 60 percent of all commercial aircraft, “manufacturers have estimated the market for new engines as replacements or on newly designed single-aisle aircraft at $30 billion to $50 billion.”


Up, up and away! The new C919, seen here in this artist’s rendition, is slated to enter service in 2016. Because the new engine will be manufactured at SAFRAN and GE facilities throughout the U.S. and France — including the hot section, or core of the engine, that GE is producing in the U.S. — the deal preserves jobs across the U.S. and E.U. over the next several decades.
Spin class: The high-tech fan for the LEAP-X1C is made out of composite materials and is being developed by SAFRAN’s Snecma engine division. It’s seen here being tested at GE’s Peebles, Ohio facility. The LEAP-X will feature 18 blades, a 50 percent reduction versus the CFM56-5C engine and 25 percent fewer blades than the CFM56-7B. It’s expected to be certified in 2014.The deal marks a new era for the joint venture, which last year extended its partnership through 2040 in order to power the next-generation of single-aisle commercial aircraft. CFM has already delivered 20,000 engines over four decades — making it the most popular airline jet engine ever. In fact, a CFM-powered airplane takes off every 2.5 seconds.

The engine for China’s new commercial plane is the LEAP-X1C, which has been in development for more than a decade and was built from scratch, as opposed to being a derivative of an existing engine. When it enters service, the LEAP-X1C will be the most fuel-efficient engine in its thrust class, providing double-digit fuel burn improvements over the current CFM56-7B engine.

“We expect that China will become the largest commercial aviation market in the world over the next two decades and it’s exciting for GE to be part of that growth,” said Jeff Immelt, GE’s chairman and CEO. “This historic decision by COMAC will result in decades of collaboration — and is a true testament to innovation and technology that the CFM partnership delivers to the marketplace.” Added David Joyce, president and CEO of GE Aviation: “We are very pleased in COMAC’s confidence in CFM to deliver the most advanced engine from the strongest jet engine partnership in aviation.”

One giant leap: While the GE joint venture CFM will provide the engine, Nexcelle will provide the engine housing and thrust reverser. Nexcelle, in turn, is a 50/50 joint venture between GE’s Middle River Aircraft Systems and SAFRAN Group’s Aircelle.In recent years, GE Aviation has dramatically expanded its work in China’s aviation industry. GE is already collaborating with COMAC — which was launched in 2008 -– with the GE CF34 engine for China’s new ARJ21 regional jet. More than 1,000 airliners in China operate with GE or CFM engines.
 
An important part of the plane is the avionics. This is what I found. Looks like GE is in a JV with AVIC to make avionics in China. GE is an experienced player. Another piece of the puzzle.

Noticed that many of these annoucements are done without fanfare, more like a necessary corp announcement.

I think with these pieces in place the Chinese would be able to build a world class commercial jet within the next 10 years. There are of course military implications.





BEIJING (MarketWatch) -- General Electric Co.'s aviation unit and China's state-run Aviation Industry Corp. said Sunday they have signed a framework agreement to form a joint venture company to develop and market avionics systems for commercial aircraft.

The two sides are aiming to launch a new joint-venture company by mid-2010, subject to receiving regulatory approval, they said in a joint statement.

The new company will be headquartered in China and will target the U.S. and global markets, the statement said.

"Our immediate focus is to...compete for the COMAC C919 narrow-body aircraft program," said Lorraine Bolsinger, president and chief executive for GE's aviation systems business.

COMAC, or Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, already markets the ARJ21, China's first 90-seat regional jet.
 
In my opinion, this is a market that should have been pioneered by Singapore. S'pore had experienced aircraft refurbishment, overhaul, and maintenance companies, such as Lockheed Air Services. These companies had developed a good reputation with the RSAF, and other airlines, and in terms of western aircraft knowledge, were far superior to any PRC companies in the 70s and 80s.

The problem was the short sightedness of SAE, and the S'pore govt. By putting the major aircraft companies under the SAE umbrella and making it a GLC, opportunities were lost that could otherwise have been identified with a more entreprenuerial company. In particular, in the 90s, several vulnerable but established aircraft makers were in trouble thru out the world, including Fokker, Douglas, Dornier. In my opinion, we missed an opportunity to purchase one of companies and shift production to Singapore. Douglas may not be allowed to be sold to Singapore by the US govt. due to its military related business, but certainly, the dutch govt. would have supported a buyout of Fokker. If FoKKer was bought by S'pore, we could be making a modernised version of their Fokker 100 in S'pore, and maybe even the Fokker 50. Both of which would have a strong market in SE Asia.

An alternative would be arrange license production with Boeing for their 717, which at that time was looking dicey and eventually is now shut down. With the deregulation of air travel in SE Asia, the market would have been huge for these aircraft. If such aircraft were to be build in S;pore, they would be millions of dollars cheaper per plane due to our lower labour costs, and such like factors, as well the sales would have been easier as the s'pore govt. would be able to provide sweetheart financing. It would create many good paying jobs in s'pore and provide S'pore with a technological edge in this region. Just making Silkair and Tiger buy S'pore made F100 or 717s would have recoup the cost of starting these production lines. Instead, these 2 idiot airlines are buying smaller Airbus models (in total, about 60 of them) for billions of dollars, all of which will go to some European workers and some other european country's economy.

In addition to forcing Silkair and Tiger to be customers, the S'pore govt. also indirectly own shares in Kingfisher Airlines. They can also purchase planes. WIth many Indonesia and Malaysian discount airlines starting business, I am sure any planes produced by SAE would have a competitive edge.If they bought Fokker, they could make the Fokker 50, which is are suitable for rougher airfields and for servicing smaller towns. Singapore has a much better reputation for technical quality than Chinese companies. If you can offer excellent service (due to your close location), good price, high quality, cheap financing, etc. I don't see how the plane can't find customers in Asia.

What is particularly galling too is why the PAP did not negotiate with Airbus for offset manufacturing in exchange for purchasing their planes. We could have at least build some wings, or fuselage or something. When u look at it in totality, the S'pore govt. indirectly thru Silkair, SIA, and Tiger is one of Airbus's biggest customers in the world.
Now, its too late, the Chinese are about to take it over.
 
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