Russia Quietly Quits China Joint Airline Project

Russia is no longer involved in the joint development of a long-haul airliner with China.

A representative of state-owned aerospace company the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) confirmed to the BBC that Russia is not now involved in the development of the plane, the C929, it was reported Monday.

Discussions on the aircraft began as early as the 2010s, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and COMAC agreeing to move forward with the project during his visit to China in 2014, the BBC reported.

In 2018 COMAC and Russian partner, state-owned United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), announced they had agreed on the size, physical characteristics, and layout of the plane. The following year a life-size model of its flight deck and cabin was showcased at Russia's MAKS airshow.

At the time, the project was known as the CR929, with CR standing for China Russia. The R has since been scrubbed from recent references to the aircraft.

Mention of Russia's involvement in the project was absent from COMAC's booth at the ongoing Farnborough International Airshow in Hampshire, England, with employees refusing to comment on the matter. There was likewise no mention of Russia on the company's stand at the Paris Air Show last year.

Work on the new plane had already begun when Vladimir Putin launched the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In the wake of international sanctions, including on Western aircraft parts, then-Russian trade minister Denis Manturov in June of that year announced changes: production would proceed with only Chinese and Russian manufacturers. He said the new supply lines would be in place by the end of 2022.

Russian newspaper Kommersant cited aviation expert Vladimir Karnozov as saying Russia had been primarily been tasked with the design of the plane because of the country's greater experience in this role, and China was to handle production.

After sanctions were introduced, China proceeded on its own Karnozov said.

"This project is very important for Beijing due to its large population. Therefore, such a decision was natural—not to interfere with the PRC (People's Republic of China) and further actively develop this project. Anyway, the country needs some imported components," he added.

Newsweek reached out to COMAC and UAC via written requests for comment outside of office hours.

Long-haul airliners have played an important role in Russian transportation, connecting big cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg with remote regions like the country's Far East.

As of 2022, foreign-made planes comprised over 80 percent of the top 20 Russian airlines' fleets, according to Washington, D.C.-based think tank the Wilson Center. The cutting of ties with Western companies like Boeing and Airbus and the resulting effect on parts and maintenance have posed a serious challenge to Russian air travel.

The C929 is China's first long-range widebody aircraft independently developed in accordance with international airworthiness standards, COMAC says on its website.

The baseline version of the C929 is equipped with 280 seats and has a range of up to 12,000 kilometers (7,456 miles), nearly three times that of the C919, a COMAC short/medium haul "trunk liner" that began commercial operations in May of last year.

The company also manufactures the ARJ21, China's first independently developed short/medium turbofan passenger plane, which is capable of 1,400-2,300-mile hauls.

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