Funding on way for MA-700 regional airliner

The government has begun to allocate funding for the development of the MA-700, an indigenous turboprop regional airliner, amid calls from lawmakers to boost the regional airline and general aviation sectors.

"The MA-700 is a brand new regional airliner that is being domestically developed and features high speed and long range," said Tang Jun, a deputy to the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, and chairman of Xi'an Aircraft Industry (Group) Co Ltd.

"We hope the aircraft, and also the MA-600, can satisfy different demands from the market."

Tang's company is a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corp of China, the nation's biggest aircraft manufacturer, and the major maker of large aircraft such as the H-6 bomber and MA-60 regional airliner.

"We intend to replace the MA-60 with its updated variant, the MA-600, and are trying to reduce the cost of the MA-600 because many clients have told us they will choose the MA-600 rather than MA-60 if they cost the same."

However, the domestic market has yet to open sufficiently for the airliners, he said.

"We have received orders for 210 MA-60s and MA-600s and delivered 80, but only 15 are in operation in China, which we regard as the most important market for the MA series."

Turboprop aircraft with fewer than 70 seats, or other aircraft seating fewer than 50 passengers are defined as regional airliners in China.

Wu Guanghui, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, and deputy general manager of the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, said the government should pay more attention to development of the regional airliner and general aviation industries.

"The overall turnover in China's air transportation has ranked the second largest in the world, headed only by the United States, but in terms of the civil aviation sector we are only a big air transporter but not a strong one," he said. Wu added that the industry in China has been plagued by unbalanced development and inconvenience in air travel in small and medium-sized cities.

"There are more than 300,000 general aviation aircraft in the US and fewer than 2,000 on the Chinese mainland."

Tang said the US has more than 30,000 airports that can handle general aviation traffic but China has just 182 on the mainland.

"As far as I know, many local governments want to construct such airports, but are frustrated by the complicated application procedures," he said.

Regional airliners account for nearly 40 percent of the total number of aircraft in developed countries' fleets, while in China the figure is 10 percent, Tang said.

Meng Xiangkai, another deputy to the top legislature and chairman of China Aviation Industry General Aircraft under the Aviation Industry Corp of China, echoed Tang's remarks, saying some of the current policies have failed to facilitate the general aviation industry's development.

He said that if the government wants to give the industry a strong push, it can start by investing more on airport construction and buy more general aviation aircraft.

zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn