China’s C919 set to soar higher as key engine provider GE vows stable supplies

Assurance comes at critical time for Comac’s plans to ramp up production, as supply chain issues plague global aircraft manufacturers

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Comac aims to churn out 150 C919 narrowbody jets annually over the next five years. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:34pm, 10 Nov 2024Updated: 12:14pm, 11 Nov 2024

US firm GE Aerospace, a key stakeholder of the engine provider for China’s C919 aircraft, has pledged stable supplies and improved localised support for makers of the narrowbody jet.

The assurance comes at a critical time for plans by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) to ramp up production, with the global aircraft manufacturing industry plagued by supply-chain issues.

Ohio-based GE Aerospace is one of two stakeholders at CFM International – which supplies engines for both Comac’s C919 and its ARJ-21 regional model. French aircraft equipment maker Safran is the other.

GE said plane delivery at Comac had never been held back by engine supply issues, despite the global crunch.

“GE Aerospace will dovetail with Comac to strengthen the production of the C919 and ARJ-21,” GE China president & chief executive Weiming Xiang told the China International Import Expo in Shanghai on Friday, according to state media outlet Thepaper.cn.

“We will improve local manufacturing capabilities and actively cooperate with Comac,” Xiang said, while also pledging to work with the Aviation Industry Corporation of China to supply avionics systems for the C919.