International Aviation Association expert: C919 domestically produced large aircraft reflects the huge potential of China's civil aviation market. C919 | passenger aircraft | domestically produced
Geneva, June 12 (Xinhua) - Philippe Meyer, an aviation industry consultant based in Switzerland, recently stated in a video interview with Xinhua that China's independently developed large passenger aircraft C919 reflects the huge potential of the Chinese civil aviation market.
Mayer is a professor of airline marketing and airport business management at the International Air Transport Association. He stated that the C919 passenger plane manufactured by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) has achieved success in passenger comfort, and Chinese manufacturers have "proven that they can design airplanes.".
On May 28th, the C919 completed its first commercial flight from Shanghai to Beijing, marking its official entry into the civil aviation market.
"China will become the world's largest civil aviation market faster than we expected," Mayer said.
According to the COMAC Market Forecast Annual Report, the Chinese aviation market will receive 9084 new aircraft worth approximately $1.39 trillion in the next 20 years, including 6295 single aisle jet airliners. By 2040, China's fleet size will reach 9957 aircraft, becoming the world's largest single aviation market.
Mayer is full of expectations for the vitality and potential of the Chinese civil aviation market. He believes that the travel demand of Chinese tourists will show explosive growth in the future, and by 2035, China will have 1 billion people traveling by plane annually.
"We must be prepared around the world to welcome a large number of Chinese tourists again," Mayer said.
According to the IATA report, it is predicted that there will be 4.35 billion people traveling by plane globally in 2023, which is almost the same as the level in 2019.
Mayer believes that compared to the West, China has a labor cost advantage, which is where China's competitiveness lies in manufacturing civil aviation aircraft. He said that the birth of the C919 aircraft will bring diverse choices to the international civil aviation aircraft manufacturing field.