The attack on the supremacy of Airbus and Boeing has started from the east: the Russian competitor MC-21 has just received a service license, and Chinese aircraft models will soon follow.
How dangerous is this competition for the Western aviation industry?
They carry names like the MC-21 and C919 and aim to challenge Airbus and Boeing, companies that have dominated the world aircraft market for decades. Both models are twin-engine narrow-body aircraft: the MC 21 comes from Russia, the C919 from China. Both models are years behind in their development and so far have not caused excessive concern among those responsible at Boeing and Airbus.
But after many postponed dates, both planes are ready for commercial use, the Russian model yet, the Chinese, due to the pandemic at the test base in Xi'an, probably only next year.
Is it a turning point?
But one thing is certain: Boeing and Airbus must prepare for competition in the most profitable segment of the market. At the same time, the new planes, at least when talking about the MC-21 model, are in many segments even superior to the competition from the West. Which is not surprising because, for example, the main competitor to the Russian model, Boeing's 737, with numerous modifications over time, has been on the market since 1967. Airbus's A320 since 1987.
Russia is a bigger competitor than China in something else: the civil aviation industry here has existed since the Soviet era.
Although production has dropped to 14 planes a year since the collapse of the Soviet Union (that's how many Airbus makes in a few days), the tradition is there.
However, it should also be said that aircraft companies such as Tupolev or Ilyushin have not developed a single new aircraft for over 30 years. The road to the use permit of the Irkut MC-21-300 model at the end of 2021 was long and thorny. The test flight was carried out back in 2017. Since then, four prototypes have successfully completed test flights.
Better economy
The standard 21-seat version of the MC-163 can compete with Western aircraft in terms of capacity and range.
"On paper, the MC-21 has better features than the competing Airbus A320 neo," says Niko Buchholz, who is in charge of aircraft procurement at Lufthansa.
And in terms of economy, the MC-21 could be a real competitor. But the question is whether the Russian plane will meet the same high standards in terms of safety, strength and effectiveness. This will be seen at the latest in the summer, when this model should enter regular traffic with Rossiya, a daughter company of the state-owned Aeroflot.
In terms of comfort, traditionally a weak point of Soviet and Russian aircraft, the MC should provide something else.
At the Dubai air show, guests were able to see for themselves that the Russian plane is 11 cm wider than the A320, and the cabin diameter is 27 cm larger than that of the Boeing 737.
This is not enough to accommodate another seat in addition to the existing six in one row, but it still allows more space between the seats and in the aisle. And the windows are bigger than those of the competition.
Possible sanctions as a risk
But a shadow looms over the Russian model: Its production is completely dependent on imports from the West, from composite materials imported from the United States and Japan to fans for jet engines supplied by the American company "Pratt&Whitney".
Due to the tense political situation, Russia is threatened with international sanctions that could jeopardize the delivery of important parts. In addition, Russia is not allowed to sell products in which parts manufactured in the West are installed to Iran, one of the important markets anyway. Prototypes with parts from Russia have not yet received a license for use.
Better quality than in the Airbus plant in Hamburg?
But now the MC-21 has a solid 175 orders, mostly from Russian companies and "several hundred letters of intent". According to the expectations of Yuri Sljusar, the CEO of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), which owns the Irkut company that produces the MC-21, over 20 of these aircraft will be in use in Russia alone in the next 800 years.
"If we prove effectiveness on the domestic market, we can turn to the international market," says Sljusar.
The Chinese manufacturer of the C919 model, Comac (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China), follows the same strategy of turning to the domestic market.
"The Chinese market is big enough for substantial orders," believes Niko Buholc.
The main advantage of the Chinese manufacturer compared to the Russian one is greater experience in the industrial production of a larger number of aircraft and a higher level of quality.
Western manufacturers who built factories in China also contributed to this.
"The quality of the planes that were produced in China was partly higher than the planes that came off the conveyor belts of the Airbus plant in Hamburg," explains former Lufthansa manager Buchholz.
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