Safran participated in the 5th COMAC International Dragon Boat Competition

Safran participated in the 5th COMAC International Dragon Boat Competition which took place on June 6th, 2019, in Zhuqiao County, Shanghai. Since the very first edition of this annual event organized by the Chinese aircraft manufacturer, Safran has proudly participated every year, demonstrating the deep friendship between Safran and COMAC.

This year, there were in total 18 teams, including several of COMAC’s western suppliers such as GE, Honeywell and Safran. Boats representing local authorities and universities also took part in the race.

For the mixed 200-meter straightway race, each boat was composed by 18 rowers, besides the drummer at the bow and the helmsman at the boat's tail. The team Safran was made up of 20 people with diverse functions from Safran and Safran companies, all paddling for the same goal.

“It is the 5th consecutive year that Safran participated in the event. We had an exciting race. Though we did not achieve to be on the podium, we enjoyed the team work and had a lot of fun all together. And we look forward to joining the race next year!” said David LASNE, Deputy General Manager of Safran China. Safran and COMAC has established a long-tern partnership through cooperation on various aviation projects such as ARJ21 and C919, and this mutual-trust relationship extends far beyond daily cooperation at work. 

Aside from being an opportunity to gather together and strive for the same goal, the Dragon Boat Festival with its race is an important part of Chinese tradition. The festival occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar. Chinese people do the dragon boat racing and share Zongzi, sticky rice dumplings, on this day to memorize the Chinese patriotic poet QU Yuan.