JV agreement signals next stage in Sino-Russian wide-body jet development

It was reported back in May 2012 that China and Russia were in negotiation to challenge the dominance of both Boeing and Airbus in the commercial jet market. The mooted joint venture would, in the simplest of terms, involve Russia providing the technical know-how and China the cash, with the aircraft being manufactured in China. From a cost perspective that would enable the price of aircraft to be more competitive as it would avoid import duty penalties of anything up to 20%. At the time the estimate on a 7-year production cycle was put at between US$7bn and US$12bn.
With current market analysis revealing that there would be a very strong domestic market in China for planes – estimates are that China will triple its aviation fleet to 6,450 aircraft over the next two decades – the two companies involved, Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and China’s Commercial Aircraft Corporation (Comac) planned to develop and produce a long-haul aircraft based on the Ilyushin (IL-96). Currently UAC have the Sukhoi Superjet 100 which will seat just over 100 passengers and Comac have the ARJ-700 which can take up to 95 passengers. Both are narrow-body aircraft with the ARJ-700 expected to enter into service early in 2016. This joint venture would enable both countries to enter into the competitive world of wide-bodied jets.
The China Daily has quoted the president of Russia’s state-controlled UAC, Yury Slyusar, as saying that the JV agreement should be signed by the end of the year, while also confirming that first off the agreement would outline profit sharing and responsibilities, with technical requirements to be decided by March the following year.