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Airbus and Embraer outline Mainland ambitions at China airshow
November 14th 2024
Airbus will introduce the A330neo to China next year, Airbus senior vice president and head of Airbus Commercial China, Liu Li, told reporters at this week’s Zhuhai Airshow. Read More » Liu said Chinese airlines are very interested in the A321XLR and that she is very confident the type will appear in the next narrow-body aircraft order. Due to the slow recovery in international flights, especially China-US routes that are only at 20% of the pre-pandemic numbers, Liu said there is overcapacity of wide-bodies in China so the willingness of Mainland airlines to purchase more wide-bodies is relatively low. However, she predicted there will be a shortage of domestic wide-body aircraft in five years. At present, the utilization rate of domestic wide-bodies has returned to 80% of pre-COVID levels. It is projected to reach 90% by year-end, 10% higher than the latest Civil Aviation Administration of China forecast.
Embraer plans to strengthen its supply chain, with Chinese companies to be invited to play a role in the expansion. Embraer chief commercial officer, Martyn Holmes, said China’s president, Xi Jinping, will be in Brazil this month for the G20 summit. “It is an exciting moment for us to have that [supply chain] conversation with Chinese suppliers and to look at how we will evolve," Holmes said. Industry sources told Reuters Embraer also is looking for a strategic partner to develop a possible new passenger jet to compete more directly with Airbus and Boeing.
