media reported that the price of the China Southern Airlines order is about US$12.2 billion, the price of the Eastern Airlines order is about US$12.8 billion, and the total order price of Air China and Shenzhen Airlines is about US$12.2 billion. The total order value of the three major airlines is approximately US$37.3 billion, equivalent to more than 240 billion yuan. These three major airlines purchased a total of 292 A320NEO passenger aircraft from European Airbus this time.
These are huge numbers and amounts.
Some readers may ask, since we have such financial strength, why not purchase COMAC 's C919 passenger aircraft ?
This is a very good question, but the answer is more complicated, involving both technical and geopolitical factors.
First, let’s take a look at some basic information about Airbus A320NEO and C919:
1. The cabin capacities of the two are similar:
A320NEO The standard aircraft cabin is 150 seats (two-class cabin), and the maximum is 180 seats.
C919 passenger aircraft has a basic layout of 168 seats, and there are also 152-seat and 144-seat layouts.
2. The range of A320NEO is slightly longer, but there is no essential difference.
A320NEO has a maximum range of 6,300 kilometers.
C919 has a standard range of 4075 kilometers and a maximum range of 5555 kilometers.
3. The noise of C919 is smaller:
Generally speaking, the cabin noise of similar foreign aircraft is about 80 decibels, while the cabin of C919 uses a large number of new composite materials, and its noise is below 60 decibels.
4. Which one is better in terms of fuel economy needs to be verified after actual flight:
According to Airbus company promotion, A320NEO is an improvement based on A320, adding "shark fins" and also adopting new models Compared with the old A320, the engine can save about 15%-20% of fuel. The cost advantage is particularly prominent on the COSCO route of more than 4 hours.
According to the propaganda of COMAC, C919 vigorously implements weight reduction and drag reduction design, adopts supercritical wing, and adopts advanced new generation engine LEAP-1C, which significantly reduces the cruise fuel consumption rate and has obvious fuel economy advantages. .
Due to the different lengths of different routes and different air climate conditions, airlines can only make a final conclusion on which one is better in terms of fuel economy after flying on specific routes.
Now back to the title question, since there is not much difference, why don’t the three major aviation giants purchase domestically produced C919s? The main problem with
is technical production capacity. There are currently a lot of orders for C919, and production capacity cannot keep up. According to media reports, the current orders for the C919 range from 500 to more than 800 aircraft. The annual production capacity of the C919 in the initial stage is only about 20 aircraft. It is expected to be about 150 aircraft after reaching production in the future. In the future, the production capacity will continue to climb to 200 aircraft. about. Therefore, even if the C919 performs well, the three major airlines cannot get more C919 aircraft after they have already placed orders before.
The second issue is geopolitical issues. After Airbus got the big order this time, the American Boeing Company really felt unforgettable pain. According to media reports, a Boeing spokesman complained on July 1 that the "geopolitical differences" between China and the United States were harming the company's business prospects and urged dialogue between China and the United States. In the context of increasing friction between China and the United States, the large order given to Airbus in Europe is intended to attract Europe's wall-riding wolves and let their companies and people know the attractiveness of the Chinese market, so as not to follow the United States on a comprehensive path. on the road to confronting China.
Finally, there is another problem: C919 is a new product, and many Chinese people still have doubts about it, especially in terms of safety. Someone around me threatened not to fly on the C919 to avoid being used as a guinea pig for experiments. People in the three major airlines may also have this mentality. Of course, they will not say it directly, but will express their doubts about C919 from the perspective of customer needs.
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