China announced on Friday that it had made the first delivery of its new airliner, the C919, a competitor to the Airbus A320 and that it should make its first commercial flight in early 2023. First Chinese-designed medium-haul aircraft, though most Of its important parts come from abroad, the twin-engine aircraft of the state manufacturer Comac also intends to compete with the Boeing 737 MAX.
A first model of the C919, with capacity for 164 passengers, was officially handed over to the Chinese company China Eastern during a ceremony organized at a Shanghai airport, state television CCTV reported. This event marks “an important milestone” for the Chinese aviation industry, estimated the chain.
300 copies ordered
Footage released by CCTV on Friday shows the plane bearing the China Eastern logo at a rain-swept airfield and gives a glimpse inside the plane’s cabin. At an air show in November, Comac said it had received orders for 300 C919s. The manufacturer, however, did not provide details on the amount of the contracts or delivery dates.
According to Chinese media, four planes will be delivered by the end of 2022 to China Eastern, the second national airline in terms of passenger numbers, ahead of an entry into service scheduled for the first quarter of next year. The development of the C919 did not stop China from closing a $17 billion contract with Airbus earlier in the year.
The European aircraft manufacturer also began production of the A321 in November at its local production line in Tianjin, near Beijing (north). The Boeing 737 MAX has been on the ground in China since 2019 after two fatal plane crashes. The American manufacturer was pessimistic at the end of October about the resumption of deliveries of this device, considering that the geopolitical situation did not allow us to glimpse an improvement in the situation in the immediate future. Ongoing US-China trade tensions have reportedly slowed progress on this file.
Source: BFM TV
