China set to develop new business jet family to meet demand

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AVIC Aviation Techniques, China’s national aircraft manufacturer, has planned to develop a significant share of the business jet family.

By identifying demand for business jets amongst Chinese users AVIC hopes dominate the market, manufacturing them within China. A agreement was put in place 23rd March between Cessna and AVIC to manufacture Cessna’s Sovereign and Latitude mid-sized business jets in Chengdu.

AVIC President Wang Yawei said this week “We can’t only allow Western companies to sell aircraft in China. We want this business too. AVIC has the mandate to manufacture several types of business jets and establish our presence, just like what China has done in the motorcar business,” he said. “The rapid development of China’s economy has resulted in a boom in business aviation here, and we want to be competitive in the global market too.”

The plan is for the first Sovereign to roll off the Chengdu production line by the end of 2013, said Wang. Production of the Latitude, which Cessna first announced in 2011, could begin in around 2014 after it gets its certification. That year, AVIC and Cessna could begin studying the design of a large-sized business jet and start developing it in the middle of the decade, although no details were released on volumes of aircraft.