GE Aviation and China Aviation Industry (AVIC) plan to form a new joint venture to develop avionics systems for commercial aircraft operators.
It will be launched by mid-2010 in China, subject to regulatory approval, say the two firms, which will each own 50% of the joint venture.
"The new company combines GE and AVIC capabilities to develop commercial integrated systems to meet aviation's growing demands," says chairman and CEO of GE Jeffrey Immelt.
The joint venture will start by bidding on the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) C919 narrowbody aircraft.
"Our immediate focus is to jointly bid the best, competitive solutions to compete for the Comac C919 narrowbody aircraft program. This includes an open architecture integrated modular avionics (IMA) platform," says president and CEO for GE's Aviation Systems business Lorraine Bolsinger.
GE's China Technology Centre in Shanghai will house a commercial aviation centre, while 200 jobs will be added in the USA, say the two companies.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
