The duopoly maintained by the two major global aeronautical manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, seems to be coming to an end, given that five countries – Canada, Russia, Brazil, China and Japan – are preparing and launching planes with which to compete with the two monsters of this world of commercial passenger aviation manufacturing.
There are new players who want to join the aviation business -which is at a buoyant moment in the face of a hopeful future-, for which they present new alternatives to consecrated models of Boeing and Airbus with the possibility of subtracting a part, if not a large part, yes interesting, from the entire single-aisle aircraft market; that is to say, of those that are used for national or domestic journeys -of short radius-, and for medium radius, and that are chosen by the low cost airlines for their main connections.
The forecasts for the next twenty years in the world of aviation foresee an increase in passengers of 4.8% on average per year, which allows manufacturers to point out the idea that more than 39,000 new aircraft will be needed to meet that demand and to renew the current fleets of the more than 400 airlines that operate throughout the world.
Interestingly, of those figures that Airbus and Boeing consider, most indicate that more than 28,000 units will correspond to single-aisle aircraft, which are the most demanded by airlines. A clear example is the one presented by the Boeing B737 model, with all its variants, which was designed in 1964, making its first flight in 1967. With a capacity for more than 200 seats and an average range of range of 6,000 kilometres, it is, in all its variants, the best-selling single-aisle aircraft in the world, with more than 13,478 units. And the other, the competitor, is the Airbus A320 model -A319, A320 and A321 options, and the current neo-, which made its first flight in 1987, and which is one of the preferred models of low cost companies, with a flight range that can exceed the B737. Of this type, the European manufacturer has sold a total of 8,000 units.
Bombardier and Embraer, first competitors
A first opponent is the Canadian manufacturer Bombardier, perhaps better known for its railway technology than for air, although it has already been testing models that exceed the capacity of one hundred seats since the 1990s, its development remained in smaller regional units, like the CRJ700 and CRJ900. But starting in 2004, the project began to get aircraft larger than those 100 seats, with the so-called CSeries family, superior to the Canadais Regional Jets, capable of carrying 110 to 130 passengers.
The first flight took place on September 16, 2013 of a CS100, with capacity for 125 passengers; which has been followed by the development of a longer fuselage model, the CS300, configured for a maximum of 160 passengers. Both models have a maximum range of 5,563 km, and a length, respectively, of 34.9 and 38 meters. According to the company, there is currently an order for 138 units of the CS100 model and 197 of the CS300. Another competitor is the Brazilian manufacturer Embraer, considered the third largest manufacturer of commercial aircraft in the world and which, curiously, sees this situation in danger due to the irruption of new Bombardier aircraft.
So far, it has announced that it plans to revamp its E-Jets models and carry out the manufacture of a new generation of the E-170 and E-175, although with greater interest in the older ones, E-190 and E-195 . The former compete with the Bombardier CRJ-900, and the latter with the Boeing B737 and the Airbus A319. They are basic versions capable of carrying between 70 and 88 passengers, the smallest, and 114 to 122 those with the longest fuselage. They are currently being operated by fifteen airlines, including the Spanish Air Europa.
Asian competition comes from China and Japan
The Chinese market is always attentive to any business possibility, which is why it is ready to enter the world of commercial aviation hand in hand with the Comac company, with two different units, one for domestic or national connections, with the model ARJ21, and another for the mid-course, with the C919.
This Chinese provision responds to the studies that have been published by both Boeing and Airbus on the number of aircraft that will be needed worldwide by 2020, and that in the case of China it is approximately 6,300. The ARJ21 is the The first passenger jet aircraft to be developed and mass-produced in China, it bears a certain aesthetic resemblance to the MD-95, and to the Antonovs.
Its first flight took place in June 2016, and it comes in four different versions, from the basic, the smallest, intended for 70 to 95 passengers, to another with a capacity of 95 to 105 seats, as well as another version for Business issues. As announced by the company itself, it has an order for 239 units. As for the C919 model, it is, for the moment, a project that has one unit built. Its first flight is scheduled for 2017, and it is expected to start its chain production in 2020.
It is advertised as one of the main competitors for the renewed aircraft of Boeing, B737 MAX and Airbus, A320neo. The C919 is 38.9 meters long, has a range of 4,000 to 5,555 kilometers, and reaches 962 kilometers per hour, with capacity for up to 170 passengers. Comac intends to carry out six different versions, which will include one for loading. According to the company, it has 175 orders.
Another traditional Asian manufacturer, known for its extensive development of combat aircraft and different industrial products, which has decided to enter the commercial sector is the Japanese firm Mitsubishi. His MRJ is going to be the first passenger aircraft designed and produced in Japan since the well-known NAM YS-11 of the 1960s. It is a device intended for rather regional flights, which has two versions, MRJ70 and MRJ90.
The first has a capacity for between 70 and 80 people, with a length of 32.8 meters and a range of 2,350 kilometers; while the MRJ90 increases the number up to 96 seats. They plan to create six versions of the two models. There are currently about 340 orders, 97 of them for the top model.
Russia also wants to compete
The Russian manufacturer Irkutsk wants to once again have a presence in the commercial aviation market, and for this it has presented the UAC MS-21, a short medium-range twin-engine, which has three different versions, MS-21-200, with capacity for up to 162 passengers, in clear competition with the A319 and the B737-700; the MS-21-300, which can carry up to 198 passengers; and the MS-21-400, the largest version, which can operate with up to 230 seats and competes with the largest single-aisle aircraft from Airbus, the A321, and from Boeing, the B737-900 ER.
It has a range of 5,000 to 5,500 kilometers, and currently, according to Irkutsk, it has 257 orders registered, with Aeroflot airlines receiving the first unit. It is intended to replace the Tupolev Tu-154 and Tu-204/ 214, older than currently in service, and its entry into service is expected in late 2016 or early 2017.
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