BRENDAN SOBIE / SINGAPORE
Manufacturer in talks with ACAC to establish second regional jet production line in Europe to attract international sales
Alenia Aeronautica is looking at possible partnership opportunities with China Aviation Industry Corp I (AVIC I) that could result in European assembly of the ARJ21.
Alenia chief representative for China Salvatore Grasso says the Italian manufacturer is engaged in "very preliminary" talks with AVIC I Commercial Aircraft Company (ACAC). ACAC has finished selecting all the major hardware and software suppliers for the ARJ21 programme, but Alenia believes room could be made for a different type of partner.
"The programme at the moment looks like a 100% Chinese programme designed for Chinese airlines," Grasso says. "If they want an international market, they need some sort of co-operation [with a foreign manufacturer]." While the ARJ21 will have a Western cockpit, powerplant and other systems, the aircraft will be assembled in Shanghai using Chinese-built airframe components.
For Alenia, the ARJ21 is the latest in a long-running attempt to push into the regional jet market. The company previously studied developing regional jets at ATR, which it owns with EADS, and purchasing regional jet assets from a liquidated Fairchild Dornier.
Grasso says Alenia still must complete a viability study into the ARJ21 before it extends ACAC an offer. "We seek some kind of involvement in the programme, providing it is sound," he says.
ACAC is also unsure if it will offer Alenia a role in the programme, which plans to deliver regional jets seating 76 to 105 passengers from late 2007. ACAC president Tang Xiao Ping says "the train has left the station" for selecting partners, but adds: "We will not close the door to [new] partners that can improve our systems and our marketing campaign."
Grasso says the idea is to establish a second assembly line in Europe for potential sales of the aircraft outside China. "We've asked to take a closer look. Nothing is firm," he says.
Assembling a Chinese design in the West would be a novel approach given historically China has approached civil aircraft manufacturing from the opposite direction, producing Western-developed aircraft in China.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LEITHEN FRANCIS IN BEIJING
Source: Flight International
