GE Aviation to buy jet aircraft from Commercial Aircraft Corp of China

GE Commercial Aviation Services based in the United States is planning to buy 5 jet aircraft made in China, in the first overseas orders for Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, the Chinese aircraft manufacturer.

The GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS), the financing and leasing business of the General Electric Company, based in New York, the United States, is buying five 70-seater ARJ21-700 aircraft from the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Limited (COMAC), based in Shanghai. There is an option to buy 20 more ARJ21-700 aircraft, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

The General Electric Company, the report added, intends to lease the aircraft to domestic airline companies in China.

The GE Commercial Aviation Services, the US and Irish commercial aircraft financing and leasing business of the General Electric Company, has a fleet of over 1,500 owned aircraft with more than 250 airlines in about 80 countries. In addition, the GE Commercial Aviation Services has offices in 28 cities around the world, and manages over 300 aircraft for others.

In a statement, GECAS said it offers a wide range of aircraft types and financing options, including operating leases and secured debt financing, and also provides productivity solutions including spare engine leasing, spare parts financing and management.

According to reports, the deal between the GE Commercial Aviation Services and the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Limited would be worth about $750 million if GE Commercial Aviation Services buys all the aircraft.

The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China also has plans to develop larger aircraft, including a 150-seater jetliner, the website chinadaily.com has reported.

The company is planning to list its general aviation businesses in the near future, a senior executive said.

At present, the General Electric Company supplies engines for the ARJ21-700 aircraft.

Meanwhile, the Chinese aircraft manufacturer China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) is planning to acquire a foreign general-aviation aircraft manufacturer to strengthen its development capabilities, the website chinadaily.com quoted a senior executive of AVIC as saying.

The China Aviation Industry Corporation was reorganised in October 2008 by merging China’s two conglomerates in the aviation industry – AVIC-I (China Aviation Industry Corporation I) and AVIC-II (China Aviation Industry Corporation II) – aimed at, what the new company said, “making bigger impact internationally.”

AVIC plans to develop 10-seat, 20-seat and 30-seat business jets as well as turbo-prop hydroplanes in the near future, the chinadaily.com report said.