AIR TRANSPORT
flightglobal.com 5-11 June 2018 | Flight International | 19Max deliveries drive
Chinese route
development
Air Transport PSeven companies have submitted engine proposals for widebody twinBillyPixD
evelopers of the Russian-Chi-
nese CR929 widebody have
increased their engine thrust ex-
pectations for the twinjet.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft tells
FlightGlobal that the requirement
is now for 78,000lb-thrust (347kN)
turbofans; up from a previous
75,000lb-thrust specification.
“The engine thrust now is
78,000[lb]. It has changed because
of marketing demand that the air-
craft be able to base in several
high-altitude aerodromes in
China. After the answer to the re-
quest for proposals from potential
engine suppliers is received, this
measurement also might be elabo-
rated,” Sukhoi says.
The China-Russia Commercial
Aircraft Corporation (CRAIC) joint
venture between United Aircraft
(UAC) and Comac received pro-
posals from seven companies by
its 30 May deadline. The bids
came from domestic and foreign
suppliers, says Comac. These are
expected to have included GE
Aviation and Rolls-Royce.
CRAIC also has provided tech-
nical details of the baseline ver-
sion of the aircraft, designated the
CR929-600. Its fuselage will be
63.3m (207ft) long and 5.92mwide, its wing span 63.9m and
maximum take-off weight 245t.
The aircraft will have capacity for
281 passengers seated in a three-
class configuration, with a range
of 6,490nm (12,000km).
These measurements put the
aircraft roughly in-line with the
Airbus A330-300, which is widely
popular in China. The CR929-
also represents a competitive re-
sponse to the A350-900 and Boe-
ing’s 787-9 and -10.
Sukhoi says technical charac-
teristics may change during de-
tailed design, which the pro-
gramme is undergoing, together
with the beginning of supplier se-
lection. This involves developing
requirements of the aircraft sys-tems, as well as the preparation
and distribution of RFPs to poten-
tial suppliers and working on
memoranda of understanding
with launch customers.
“Apart from that, it is also nec-
essary to outline the production
co-operation, to develop the sys-
tem of after-sales support and
sales strategy,” the company adds.
Detailed design of the aircraft is
expected to be completed by the
end of 2019, with UAC and Comac
to work together on its layout and
airframe structure development.
The target is for the CR929 to be
introduced in the 2025-2028 time-
frame, as the first twin-engined
widebody to be produced by the
partner nations. ■PROGRAMME MAVIS TOH SINGAPOREMore power demanded for
CR929 as contest spools up
Requirement to operate from high-altitude sites in China drives thrust increase request L
atvian carrier Air Baltic has
ordered 30 more Bombardier
CSeries aircraft and taken op-
tions on a further 30 of the type.
Deliveries of the new aircraft are
set to begin in the fourth quarter
of 2019.
Air Baltic has already ordered
20 of the type, eight of which are
in commercial service.
“In 2017, we experienced out-
standing growth and showed the
world the unique capabilities
and comfort of this innovative
aircraft,” says chief executive
Martin Gauss. “We successfully
executed our fleet modernisation
strategy, and are excited to fur-
ther grow our fleet up to 80
CS300 aircraft while phasing out
our other aircraft types in the
next three years.”
The airline had previously
said it was looking at more
CSeries aircraft as replacements
for its 12 Bombardier Q400s and
11 Boeing 737-300s and -500s.
The additional aircraft will
support the next stage of Air Bal-
tic’s business strategy, which tar-
gets significant route expansion
in key Baltic markets Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania.
“A critical part of this new
strategy is the introduction of a
larger and exclusive fleet of all-
CS300 aircraft,” Gauss says. ■EXPANSIONAir Baltic orders
more CS300s as
fleet plan hits 80