"Made in China" Takes On A Whole New Meaning

For years, commercial aircraft has mainly been dominated in the Western world by Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, and recently Embraer.  There are other companies, such as Tupolev and Antonov, but you only see these planes in Russia, other countries formally under the Soviet Union, and other poorer countries.  So, would there ever be a chance for a country outside of the Western world that could become a potential competitor?  If you would have asked me about a month ago, I would have never imagined any other country would be given a chance.  So, when I watched a video on flightglobal.com that went over all of the highlights of the Paris Air Show, you can imagined how surprised I was.

Yes, it's a little corny and even a little awkward at the end (sigh...), but they do mention one thing that blew me away:  Ryanair and COMAC are teaming forces to create a 200 person airliner.  A chinese company is going to make an airliner for a Western company?!  And, just in case you need a little more evidence, here's Ryanair's formal announcement on their website:

http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/ryanair-and-comac-commercial-aircraft-corp-of-china-sign-c-919-mou-in-paris

Now, if you've ever flown on Ryanair, this may make a little sense.  I only had one experience with them, flying from Paris to Stockholm, but all you really need is one flight to live what can be argued to be an adventure.

At Beauvais Airport (notice how the stepladder is installed into the aircraft to load passengers quickly and virtually anywhere)

A few years back, my brother and I were touring Europe and wanted to visit our relatives in Sweden for the first time.  From Paris, we had to take the subway to a bus station outside of the city, and then took a bus for 45 minutes... just to get to the airport called Beauvais, which exclusively caters to low cost airlines.  Our plane arrived and as people were exiting the craft, they announced that we were to start boarding the plane.  After some controlled chaos, we finally got in our seats and noticed that we were surrounded by advertisements for Ryanair, the airline we were flying on...  As we lined up on the runway, I also noticed the farmers working with hay almost next to the plane.  Finally, we landed at Skavsta airport, which is in Nykoping, about 66 miles outside of Stockholm.

As bizarre as that experience was, it only cost my brother and I $30 total.  For everything.  Not a penny more.  So, when Ryanair and China's COMAC make an announcement that they're going to work together, it doesn't seem so bizarre in the end.

So, is this a good idea to bring this type of competition into the mix?  My answer, I don't know for sure.  Although opinion can differ when it comes to Ryanair, it's safe to say that it is a very unique airline that has certain customers they cater to.  So, if there's a dependable and cheaper aircraft out there, who's to say that it's that big of a deal?  Plus, if you're worried about the competition between COMAC and the other players, I'm not sure how big of a deal it will play.  It will depend on the low cost market and where they want to go.  This could prove to be an issue if airlines like Air Asia, a low cost career based in Southeast Asia, would want some new C-919's.  When it comes down to it, with a changing market you need to have solutions that mold with the current demand; all Ryanair seems to be doing is taking a risk that will help them progress.  In the end, I'm mostly interested in what will happen in the future, and hope that it progresses better air travel... kind of like how I feel all the time :D