China's first home-built big passenger jet completed its maiden flight on Friday, giving wings to the country's ambitions of taking on industry leaders Boeing and Airbus.
Comac designed the aircraft to serve as a domestic alternative to the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 as the Chinese travel market moves to surpass the U.S. by 2024.
State media burst with pride and patriotism as the plane's debut flight from Pudong International Airport in Shanghai was broadcast live, adding that around 3,000 officials, executives and other onlookers clapped "ecstatically" as the plane landed, carrying a skeleton crew of five pilots and engineers. The 80-minute flight was greeted with applause by more than 1,000 spectators on the tarmac, including Vice Premier Ma Kai and Shanghai Party chief Han Zheng. China's first large homemade passenger jetliner is due to make its maiden flight from Shanghai later Friday.
487 million: That's the number of domestic and worldwide journeys made a year ago in China, according to data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd said that the C919, China's homegrown large passenger jet, is set to become the new star of its 600-plus aircraft fleet, stating that its "safety and state-of-the-art design will bring superb a flying experience to its passengers".
The state company formed a 50:50 partnership a year ago with Russian counterpart United Aircraft Corp to develop a longer-haul passenger plane, with the companies earmarking a maiden flight in 2022, with deliveries beginning as early as 2025.
China began to develop its own jumbo passenger jets in the 1970s and the first one, the Y-10, had a successful test flight in 1980. But the project was later abandoned.
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Boeing forecasts that an annual 6% growth in China's air passenger traffic over the next two decades will create demand for 6,810 new planes worth a trillion dollars.
The jet by state-owned firm Comac has been planned since 2008 but the flight was repeatedly pushed back.
The company plans a 4 200 flight test campaign, using six aircraft. It made its maiden passenger flight in June previous year. It is an achievement in global cooperation, said Wu. French-US supplier CFM International has provided technology for the aircraft's engines. Comac also relies on worldwide technology from firms such as General Electric, Safran and Honeywell global. So far, Comac has received orders for 570 of the new airliners from 23 customers, a lot of them from Chinese airlines and leasing companies. (The plane also has one US buyer: General Electric Capital Aviation Services, a supplier to the C919 program, ordered 20 planes from Comac.) And that's a small drop in the bucket compared to Boeing, which can roll out 400-500 Boeing 737's a year.
Chinese government has been making efforts to reduce dependence on European consortium Airbus and USA aerospace giant Boeing.
It is engaged in a long-term process of catching up to Europe, the United States, and Russian Federation in commercial aircraft, he said.
Suppose domestic jets can win 50 percent of the China market, that would represent a huge potential for the country's aircraft industry.
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