Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Jim Albaugh believes China will become a significant competitor in civil aircraft manufacturing, but he does not expect COMAC’s C919 – a direct competitor to Boeing 737 – to achieve a major sales presence outside the country.

“It will probably be a good airplane. Will that be the airplane that they market outside China? Probably not,” Albaugh said recently, adding: “But the airplane after that and the one after that. . .We have to look at China as a real competitor for years to come.”

“The Chinese are where Airbus was 25-30 years ago. The Chinese government has said they are going to make a significant investment in commercial aerospace. . .They are going to put the best and brightest on the programme.”

China is not the only rising aerospace power, he noted. “We’re not in a duopoly anymore. You project out 10-15 years and we are competing against the Brazilians, the Russians, the Canadians, the Chinese and the Japanese and we’re not just competing against five companies, we’re competing against five countries. We have to make moves now to ensure we are competitive 5, 10, 15 years from now.”