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Boeing's New Nemesis? China to Make Plane That's Cheaper to Fly Than 737

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​Many of the world's modestly-priced products originate in China--perhaps soon its modestly-priced airlines will as well. The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) says its first commercial jet, the up-to-190-seater C919 (the first '9' is for eternity, the 19 for 190 seats), will be cheaper to operate and will use 15% less fuel than the current Boeing 737s (with which it would compete.)

The planes aren't scheduled for the market until 2016 (which is roughly 2019 on Boeing time) and won't be marketed to the Western world initially; there's plenty of demand in China itself, COMAC says. But it is funny that just a day after Boeing reportedly won a preliminary World Trade Organization ruling over Airbus, which held that the latter received illegal government subsidies (because Boeing isn't subsidized to the teeth, right?), it looks like the Lazy B has another competitor on the horizon--and this one is run by a government itself.

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