Boeing joins with China’s COMAC in green aviation drive

Boeing and a smaller rival Chinese aircraft manufacturer, The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), yesterday announced that they have entered an agreement to jointly promote energy saving and emission reduction in the civil aviation industry.

According to the agreement, the two sides will together establish a technology center for this green drive in Beijing. The facility will be dedicated to the research of improving fuel's burning efficiency and cutting down greenhouse gas emissions in the global airline industry.

Sources with COMAC told Xinhua that the agreement indicated that global participants in the competitive airline industry can seek cooperation to address common challenges so as to benefit passengers and the world's environment as a whole.

According to the agreement, the two companies will also co-operate with China's research institutes and universities in fields including sustainable bio-fuel and telecommunication infrastructure for the airline industry.

It is estimated that China's air travel market will grow to 1.5 billion passengers a year by 2030, from some 300 million passengers this year.