BEIJING — China’s first domestically made passenger jet flew its maiden business flight on Sunday, as China appears to compete with trade giants equivalent to Boeing and Airbus within the international plane market.
The C919 aircraft, constructed by the Business Aviation Company of China, carried about 130 passengers on the flight, in line with state-owned newspaper China Every day. The jet took off Sunday morning from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and landed lower than two hours later in Beijing.
The flight was operated by state-owned China Jap Airways and the facet of the aircraft was emblazoned with the phrases: “The World’s First C919.”
The inaugural flight comes as COMAC appears to interrupt into the single-aisle jet market in a direct problem to Airbus and Boeing. Airbus’s A320 and Boeing’s B737 jets are the most well-liked aircrafts sometimes used for home and regional flights.
Whereas COMAC designed lots of the C919’s elements, a few of its key parts are nonetheless sourced from the West, together with its engine.
The corporate plans to construct 150 C919 planes every year for the subsequent 5 years, in line with earlier state media stories.
The C919, which had been in improvement for 16 years, has a most vary of about 3,500 miles (5,630 kilometers) and is designed to hold between 158 and 168 passengers.
Over 1,200 C919 jetliners have been ordered, COMAC says, with China Jap Airways beneath contract to purchase 5 of them.
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