Thales Cetc Avionics opens in Chengdu

Thales Cetc Avionics Co Ltd, a joint venture which will make in-flight entertainment systems for the C919, the first Chinese-made large commercial aircraft, opened in Chengdu, Sichuan province, on Thursday.

The 50-50 JV is backed by China Electronics Technology Group Corp, known as Cetc, and Thales Group, a French avionics company.

"The joint venture will research and develop the in-flight entertainment system for the C919 and our long-term target is to supply the products to global aircraft manufacturers," said Zeng Li, assistant chief engineer of Cetc.

All single-aisle aircraft manufacturers will be the company's target clients, he added.

The JV will be able to produce systems for 200 single-aisle aircraft annually, Zeng said.

The company is still applying for airworthiness certifications and there are no confirmed orders yet, except for the cooperation with Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd, the builder of the C919.

"The JV may start to confirm orders from June 2014, when we get the certifications from the US and Europe," Zeng said.

According to Comac, the C919 will make its first flight in 2014 and the first aircraft will be delivered in 2016.

"Thales Cetc Avionics is following Comac's schedule and we will provide some components to the manufacturer to test this year," Zeng said.

Thales Group signed a letter of intent with Comac to be C919's supplier in 2010. By the end of 2012, the C919 already had 380 orders.