Actually it’s an unlicensed project. The Y-8 was designed off a handful of An-12 examples in 1968/69 during the height of the Sino-Soviet border wars.

Internally, much of the Y-8 is very different from the An-12 since it was designed to use parts available in Cultural Revolution China.

The Y-8 really took off in the late 1970s and early 80s when Western techniques and help were acquired during the happy period of Chinese westernization (1978 – 1989.)

In fact, one of the first production variants of the Y-8 was designed to ferry the prized S-70 Blackhawk helicopter that China imported from the US.

A new pict of the Y8F400, first of the solid nose Y8 variants (discounting the earlier earlier Y8Cs with converted radome for AEW and testing roles.)

There are how many privately owned airlines in China??

There are three private airlines were actually approved just this year. But other than the three national majors – Air China (the flag carrier), China Eastern and China Southern – China’s carriers are mainly municipal though they are supposed be run as private ventures based on profit (doesn’t always work out that way because the local government will take losses to keep people employed.)

At one point there were something like 50 carriers set up by provinces and major municipalities. Over the past few years, many of the smaller ones were incorporated into Air China, China Eastern and China Southern but there are still around 30-odd regional airlines.

It’s a bit of mess outside the areas serviced by the three majors and the bigger regional lines like Hainan, Shanghai or Shandong. Actually, the smaller regionals like Shandong and Shanghai were the first ones to order the ARJ21. No commitment yet from the Chinese majors.

This is the amazing thing about the Chinese carrier industry. Unlike Russia, there is no dictat for China’s carriers to buy Chinese. Otherwise, China’s aircraft makers would have a captive market. In fact, the Chinese carriers were powerful enough on their own that they had helped kill the promising Y10 project because they didn’t want to be saddled with a Chinese plane that might scare away western and overseas Chinese passengers.

The Battle over China’s Airspace

One of the greatest battles in aviation today. Boeing versus Airbus in China.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/03/1096741885663.html

Airbus and Boeing battle Chinese market
October 3, 2004 – 1:34PM

French President Jacques Chirac’s trip this week to Beijing will bring into sharp focus the battle between the world’s biggest aircraft makers, Europe’s Airbus and Boeing of the US, for the prized Chinese market.

. . .

Chirac, who will be in China from October 8-12, will be accompanied by a bevy of French business leaders hoping to clinch deals in areas ranging from high-speed rail links to the construction of nuclear reactors.

But the competition is particularly intense for the Chinese aviation market because the stakes are so high.

The market will require over the next two decades 1,295 planes, according to the airplane maker China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC 1). Boeing estimates it at 2,127 and Airbus at 1,600 aircraft, according to the French economic mission.

These giddying estimates are based on strong growth by the three main Chinese airlines – Beijing-based Air China, China Eastern in Shanghai, and China Southern based in Guangzhou – but also on expansion at smaller Chinese companies such as Hainan Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Xiamen Airlines and China Yunnan.

GD’s comments: One of the most massive aviation spending sprees of all times and Chinese aircraft manufacturers have almost nothing to offer to Chinese airlines. The cancellation of the Y-10 is absolutely devastating seen in this light. (Though from the service business standpoint, the fact that the Chinese airlines could grow to the point where they could afford to buy so much aircraft supports the wisdom of divorcing the Chinese manufacturers from Chinese carriers.)

This is why the ARJ21, the Y8, the Y7/MA60 and the heavy transport projects are even more important than the J-10, FC-1 or any other military project.

If Shenyang, Xian and the other of China’s military a/c manufacturers can capture even a part of its home market for commercial jets, they would by default be some of the most well-funded aviation firms in the world and thus have the resources for better military aircraft.

Unfortunately I could see nothing in the coming decades that would loosen the Western grip on the Chinese market for large commercial jets – though Airbus will probably annihilate Boeing in China because of US export restrictions hobbling Boeing.