Tim Clark: China’s invasion of the civil aviation market and competition from Airbus and Boeing is now a matter of time
China continues to strengthen its global presence in various industries, amid expectations that it will soon enter the civil aviation market, which is currently controlled by the European “Airbus” and the American “Boeing”. In this context, Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airlines, stressed that Beijing’s success in becoming a major player in the commercial aircraft industry is no longer unlikely, but rather a matter of time, based on the tremendous progress China has achieved in other sectors, most notably electric cars.
Changing the rules of global competition
Clark explained, during press statements in the German capital, Berlin, that the Chinese experience in the automotive sector reflects its ability to penetrate markets dominated by international companies and change the rules of competition there. The president of Emirates Airlines, who has decades of experience in the international aviation sector, added: “If there is a country that has the will to achieve this goal, it is China,” stressing that the aviation sector will not be an exception compared to other industries in which Beijing has made widespread transformations.
The large commercial aircraft industry is considered a very closed market, with competition concentrated between “Airbus” and “Boeing” due to its technical and organizational complexities, in addition to the airline companies’ preference for unifying fleet types to reduce maintenance costs and facilitate crew training.
Accreditation certificates…the biggest obstacle
Despite the remarkable development in manufacturing, Clark believes that the main obstacle to the global spread of Chinese aircraft is the absence of approvals from major regulatory bodies, such as the US Federal Aviation Administration and regulatory bodies in Europe and Canada. He pointed out that obtaining these approvals for Chinese aircraft will open the door to fierce competition, especially for COMAC, which manufactures the C919 aircraft, which relies on Western technologies and components.
In a related context, Clark cited a previous discussion he had with Tom Enders, former CEO of Airbus, about the European company’s decision to open a production line for the A320 aircraft in China. At the time, Clark raised concerns about China taking advantage of available technologies through reverse engineering, while Enders defended the move by saying that not manufacturing locally would hinder the sale of aircraft in the huge Chinese market. Clark pointed out the similarity of the C919 to the world’s best-selling A320, considering that China is capable of developing competing models quickly.
C919 aircraft and future expansions
COMAC has succeeded in attracting widespread interest in its C919 aircraft through purchase orders inside China and abroad in Asia, but the scope of its spread remains limited due to the absence of European and American credits. Despite these limitations, Clark warned against underestimating China’s capabilities, considering that ignoring its industrial development is unwise.
COMAC’s ambitions are not limited to single-aisle aircraft, but rather it is developing wide-body models for long-haul flights, such as the “C929” to compete with the “Boeing 787 Dreamliner,” and concepts for the “C939” aircraft that aims to compete with the “Airbus A350-1000” and “Boeing 777-9,” which reflects Beijing’s desire to dominate the largest and most engineering-advanced segments.
Emirates Airlines position
Regarding the possibility of Chinese aircraft joining the Emirates Airlines fleet, Tim Clark did not categorically rule out this possibility, indicating that all options remain possible for the future. These developments confirm the expected transformations in the global aviation map, with China’s insistence on building an industry capable of breaking the monopoly of the two Western manufacturing giants.
