McDONNELL DOUGLAS (MDC) has entered into discussions with Aviation Industries of China (AVIC) on the joint development and production of a 100-seat passenger aircraft.
Initial talks centre on either assisting China with the development of a new 100-seat aircraft or expanding the existing MD-90 TrunkLiner programme to include the smaller MD-95 twinjet. Shanghai Aviation Industrial is due to begin production of the 150-seat MD-90-30 in 1996.
AVIC, together with the South Korean KCDC aerospace consortium, is already conducting a series of joint studies with Aerospatiale, Boeing and Daimler-Benz into a new 100-seat aircraft. The Sino-Korean partnership is due to select a Western participant in October.
"We're coming into this a little bit late in the current round of negotiations," admits MDC regional vice-president Charles Ahern, but adds: "A lot of things can fall into place very quickly."
The company in 1994 announced its international line-up of risk-sharing partners and contractors for the yet-to-be-launched MD-95 programme, including Korean Air and Halla Heavy Industries. McDonnell Douglas, however, suggests that it is not too late to include China in the programme.
One option under consideration is to use the same MD-90 production line at SAIC for the MD-95. The Shanghai factory plans to produce up to ten MD-90s a year and would have spare capacity. A Chinese production site would likely be in addition to an US-based MD-95 line, given a projected worldwide demand for 600 aircraft, says MDC.
Any Chinese industrial participation in the MD-95 would also likely mirror its involvement with the MD-90 programme. Xian Aircraft will supply the TrunkLiner's wing and fuselage sections, Chengdu Aircraft its nose and Shenyang Aircraft the empennage and electrical-power systems.
Source: Flight International
