Developing a jet passenger plane with Asian technologies and capability:
The 10th Working-Level Conference on Jet Passenger Plane
On November 7 (Mon.) 2011, the 10th Working-Level Conference on Jet Passenger Plane of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21 (ANMC21) was held at the Changwon Convention Center in the City of Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea.
"The Promotion of Development of a small to medium-sized Jet Passenger Plane" is one of the joint projects of the ANMC21 and aims to advance the development of small to mid-sized jet passenger planes with technologies and skills of the Asian countries. Six member cities including Delhi, Hanoi, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, and Tokyo currently take part in the project.
This year's conference was held in South Korea, who has been developing airplanes through joint international development programs and is achieving remarkable growth in the field. About 50 participants, including Korean government officials, representatives from aircraft companies, and researchers, joined the conference this time.
At the beginning of the conference, Mr. Tatsuro Sakaki, vice-chairman of the examination committee for the project, made a keynote speech about the Asia Passenger Plane Vision. The Asia Passenger Plane Vision was formed in November 2010 by the project examination committee, which is composed of representatives from Japanese companies in the field of heavy industry, trading, aviation, and such. The Vision targets to establish a system for joint development and production of a small to mid-sized jet passenger plane, which has a capacity of 100 to 150 passengers and connects between major cities of Asian countries, by making use of the strength of technologies that each member country in Asia has.
Details about the Asia Passenger Plane Vision are available on the website below: http://www.anmc21.org/jet/english/foreign/index.html
Vice-chairman Tatsuro Sakaki making a keynote speech
A discussion in progress
At a panel discussion
Visiting the KAI Aerospace Museum as part of study tour
The speech was followed by a presentation by the Korea Aerospace Industries Association (KAIA), a public organization for South Korea's aircraft development, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry of Japan, about the policies and history of the aerospace industry. Other presentations included one by Korean Air Lines about projects at its manufacturing section, and one by Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation from Japan about the outline of domestically-developed and manufactured airplane Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ). In the afternoon, the researchers from Korea, Malaysia, India, and Japan held a panel discussion and actively exchanged opinions on the theme of building a network between researchers in Asia and promoting collaboration between the industry, academia, and government for advancing the development of Asian-made airplanes.
Thereafter, the specialists from Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, and India made a presentation in which they explained about the latest trend of the aircraft industry in each country. The first day of the conference ended with a presentation by Kazuki Sugiura, an aviation analyst from Japan, about the transition of aviation policies and a change in transportation in East Asia.
On the second day of the conference (November 8), the participants of the conference took a study tour and visited the Tech Center in Busan Metropolitan City, which is the manufacturing section of Korean Air Lines, and also a factory of the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) in Sacheon. The tour was joined by the specialists from Asian countries. The participants of the tour were allowed to directly observe scenes of the rapidly-growing airplane manufacturing in South Korea and were eager to learn more by asking questions.
The Changwon conference was successfully completed by providing the participants with an opportunity to witness South Korea's national efforts towards the further development of the aerospace industry, and also by mutually confirming the importance of strengthening the network between researchers and specialists of passenger aircrafts.
The ANMC21 will continue to support the development and promotion of Asian airplanes by making the best use of the outcome of the conference.
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