COMAC Official Mentions Time Frame In News Conference

A COMAC official said in a news conference Wednesday that the company hopes to see the C919 airliner fly "by around the end of 2016."

Reuters reports that from Lu Zheng, COMAC's deputy head of marketing, said that "rigorous" testing is underway on the airliner, which is the first large-scale civilian aircraft developed in China that complies with international test-flight standards.

China hopes that the C919 can break into the single-aisle market dominated by Boeing's 737 and the Airbus A320 family. There are also plans for a joint venture with Russia to develop a widebody variant of the airplane, according to the report.

The program has been plagued with issues such as a lack of experience in building a jetliner to international standards and a shortage of design and engineering expertise in the field. Those challenges, and others, have forced multiple delays in the C919 program, as well as the ARJ-21, which made its first revenue flight in June.

(Image from file)

FMI: http://english.comac.cc