Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE
CHINA AND SOUTH Korea, have again pushed back their selection of a Western partner, to develop the AE-100 passenger aircraft, until the two countries agree on the location of a final assembly line.
Nearly 15 months after the Chinese and South Korean Governments agreed to develop jointly a 100-seat twinjet, the two sides have still not reached a consensus on which country will take responsibility for production.
Following a presidential-level meeting in Beijing in December, re-affirming support for the joint venture, there is now added pressure for Aviation Industries of China (AVIC) and the Korea Commercial-Aircraft Development (KCDC) consortium finally to resolve the issue.
The Samsung Aerospace-led Korean consortium is pushing for its own assembly line, either in addition to, or instead of, a production line in China. Samsung is already drawing up plans for a 100-seater assembly line at its Sachon site, based on Daimler-Benz's Airbus A321 Hamburg plant.
KCDC officials contend that its partner companies, which include Korean Air and Daewoo, have more experience than China in manufacturing modern aircraft. Continuing programmes include licence-production of the Lockheed Martin F-16C/D by Samsung and the Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawk by Korean Air.
AVIC, however, argues that China's projected domestic requirement for the AE-100 far exceeds that of South Korea and that it is financially feasible to have only one line. China is conservatively estimated to need around 250 aircraft, and South Korea requires around 40.
It adds that Shanghai Aviation Industrial has gained extensive experience with the McDonnell Douglas (MDC) MD-89/90 TrunkLiner programme, while Chengdu, Shenyang and Xian Aircraft are subcontract suppliers to manufacturers, Airbus Industrie, Boeing and MDC.
China and South Korea have also still to decide on a "neutral" location for the joint venture's headquarters. Industry sources suggest that Hong Kong is a strong contender, although Singapore is also under consideration. Aero International (Regional) and Boeing are the leading contenders to be the Western joint-venture partner.
South Korea's Hyundai Group has announced plans to expand its aerospace activity by building a new integrated manufacturing site at Sosan. The company is keen to expand its helicopter production and is reported to be holding negotiations for aircraft-subcontracting work with MDC.
Hyundai now assembles BK.117 helicopters under licence from Kawasaki and is part of the Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite (KOMPSAT) programme. The company also holds an 8% stake in the KCDC consortium.
Source: Flight International
