GE gets US license to supply engines for C919 jet

GE Aviation, a unit of US multinational General Electric Co, said it has been given a license by the US government to supply aero engines for the C919, China's first domestically built narrow-body passenger jet. The aircraft model is expected to begin commercial service next year.

GE said it would continue to actively support Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, the manufacturer of the C919, as usual and as scheduled.

Earlier this year, the US government was weighing whether to deny GE's latest license request to provide the CFM LEAP-1C engine for the C919. The engine is a joint venture between GE and French aerospace company Safran Aircraft Engines. GE had been granted licenses to sell the engine to China from 2014, with the latest issued in March last year.

"The US government embargo of high-tech products exports could cause more US companies to gradually lose the China market, the world's largest single market. Chinese companies will become increasingly more afraid to use US products, and other countries will also weigh up their purchases of US products in key areas," said Lin Zhijie, an aviation industry analyst and columnist at Carnoc, one of China's largest civil aviation websites.

The coronavirus contagion has shattered the global commercial aviation industry, and carriers have grounded planes and delayed orders for new planes. It has forced GE's aviation unit to furlough half of its manufacturing workforce for a four-week leave since last week.

Meanwhile, the C919 finished the determination test of its propulsion force in late March, indicating the model is on a faster track to gaining airworthiness certification before entering the market.

Currently, six test aircraft of the C919 are conducting flight and ground tests at three testing bases in Xi'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi province, Dongying in East China's Shandong province and Nanchang in East China's Jiangxi province.