China’s first passenger plane is set to challenge Boeing and Airbus.
According to the Chinese newspaper China Daily, the C919 single-aisle aircraft was built by the Commercial Aviation Corporation of China as Beijing eyes to enter the global aircraft market, where China is competing with French aircraft maker Airbus and the US. There is a tough competition from Boeing Company.
According to the report, China’s first commercial aircraft made its maiden flight from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport on Sunday and landed in Beijing in less than two hours with 130 passengers on board. The flight was operated by China’s state-owned China Eastern Airlines.
Although the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) has designed many of the C919’s components, some of its critical components, including the engine, are still imported from the West.
The report also stated that the company plans to build 150 new C919 aircraft every year for the next five years.
The plane, which has been under construction for 16 years, can fly up to 3,500 miles and is designed to carry 158 to 168 passengers.
The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) says it has ordered more than 1,200 C919 jetliners and has a deal with China Eastern Airlines to buy five of them.
The aircraft also bolstered Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitions to make the country technologically self-sufficient despite strained relations with the United States.
Recall that in October last year, Chinese President Xi hosted the C919 development team at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and hailed the group as the country’s ‘backbone’ and ‘national heroes’.
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