Airbus and China's COMAC to cooperate on developing ATM concepts to deliver sustainable air transport growth
Fri 21 Feb 2014 – Airbus and Chinese aircraft manufacturer COMAC have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together on developing new air traffic management (ATM) concepts and operations that they claim will help enable a sustainable growth in air transport. The partners will share best practices and identify improvements required by current ATM technology roadmaps both on-board the aircraft and on the ground. Standardised and interoperable ATM, they say, will make flights more efficient, with passengers enjoying shorter travelling times as a result of optimised take-off, landing and taxiing procedures. Emissions, they add, will also be significantly reduced and lower levels of noise will benefit people living near to airports.
“Environmental protection, aircraft safety and a seamless cooperation between industry players are important factors in promoting a sustainable aviation industry,” said He Dongfeng, President of COMAC, which is developing the C919 single-aisle aircraft and the ARJ21 regional aircraft. “We will strengthen the cooperation with Airbus in areas like global interoperability, sustainability and aircraft safety, and deepen the understanding of the world’s latest concepts and operations, best practices and methodologies.”
Added Airbus COO Günter Butschek: “To build sustainable aviation, which is our common goal, we are facing common challenges, which need all the players of the entire industry to meet together. Airbus has been collaborating with all the players of the industry around the world to promote the sustainable growth of the aviation industry and the cooperation with COMAC is part of our worldwide efforts.”