China's first independently developed passenger jet will take off on its
maiden flight in 2008.
The 70-seater ARJ21 turbofan aircraft is due to make it's first flight in
March 2008 after being fully assembled by the end of next year.
A computer-generated picture of 70-seater
ARJ21 turbofan aircraft, a 70-seat plane developed by China.
[chinanews.com.cn] |
The plane, slated to run regional lines and now being built by the China
Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I), will become available to buyers in
September 2009, said the company's President Liu Gaozhuo at a working meeting in
Beijing.
He added that the corporation aims to produce 11 ARJ21s a year by 2010,
taking a lion's share of the world's fiercely-competitive civil aviation market.
Design work began on the aircraft in March 2002.
AVIC I Senior Vice-President Yang Yuzhong said the plane entered the final
trial production stage yesterday, having already completed a feasibility study,
preliminary development, and development period.
Zhang Yunchuan, head of the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for
National Defence (COSTIND), said more than 40 orders have already been placed
for ARJ21s, despite production having yet to begin.
Buyers include Shanghai Airlines, he said.
"This is a milestone for China's aviation industry, in that it is the
country's first independently-developed civil aviation programme and a
prerequisite for future trunk-liners," Zhang said.
Zhang said 19 foreign suppliers have become risk partners in developing the
ARJ21.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, there are only 74 feeder liners planes
suitable for use on non-trunk lines currently available on the Chinese mainland,
although more than 600 will be needed in the coming two decades.
Demand from the international feeder line transport market is expected to
exceed 4,000.
Wu Guanghui, chief designer of ARJ21 and president of the AVIC I First
Aircraft Institute, said after all types of experiments last year the plane has
finally met its designed flight characteristics.
"Ninety per cent of the plane's components will be made by the end of this
year," he said.
AVIC I set up shareholding firm Commercial Aircraft Co Ltd (ACAC) in
September 2002 to develop civil aircraft. ACAC is now the co-ordinator in
developing the ARJ21.
Wu said they plan to develop a series of ARJ21 planes, seating between 70 and
110, in order to meet the diverse air industry's demands.
He added that passengers would be very comfortable onboard the turbofan
aircraft, which will have a range of 3,600 kilometres.
Shao Xiaoyun, vice-president of Shanghai Airlines, said they are fully
confident on the success of ARJ21, and as a buyer the airline will offer its
full support to the feeder liner.
China's air transport industry has expanded at an annual rate of 18 per cent
since 1978, and more than 90 feeder liners have been built in the mainland's
medium-scale cities in recent years.
However the share of feeder liners among China's total fleet still less than
10 per cent.
The Chinese mainland, which has the second most air traffic in the world, now
has some 570 general aviation aircraft, said the Xinhua News Agency.
Over the past 51 years COSTIND has produced Chinese-made Y-7, Y-8 and Y-10
aircraft for military use.
And speaking on condition of anonymity last night COSTIND officials said they
are now developing a Y-12E general-purpose aircraft for use in high-temperature
and plateau conditions as well as providing Z-11 and Z-9 helicopters for the
commercial market.
(China Daily 06/01/2006 page2)
