on July 19 2023 the corporate registry in China indicated that a company called „Commercial Aicraft Times“(商飞时代）was formed. What is interesting is that this is a joint venture among CATL, the largest lithium battery manufacturer in the world, COMAC （China’s Airbus/Boeing equivalent and the manufacturer of China’s C919 jetliner) and Shanghai Jiaotong University (Jiaotong means „transportation“ in Chinese and by no accident it is the alma mater of the founder and chairman of CATL). The name of the joint venture is obviously a combination of COMAC and CATL in Chinese language.

According to the description of the business scope in the corporate registry, the joint venture company’s business scope includes “ the design and production of civil aircraft parts, civil aircraft (engine, propeller) production, battery sales, etc.“

This partnership may be not a surprise considering that the three parties have already signed a MoU last year and CATL mentioned the possible aviation use at the introduction event unveiling its latest battery technology at Shanghai Auto Show in this April. It should be very interesting to see the outcome of this partnership.