China on Friday (December 9) delivered the first homegrown passenger jet to China Eastern Airlines. The aircraft is expected to make its commercial debut early next year. China Eastern Airlines received the Chinese-made passenger jet in a ceremony at an airport in Shanghai. With the production of the C919 commercial jetliner, China aims to challenge foreign models like the Boeing 737 MAX and the Airbus A320.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said in a report that the deliveries of C919 emerged as “an important milestone” in the history of China’s aircraft industry.
Footage of the ceremony showed that the jet bore the China Eastern Airlines insignia. Video played by the state media also showed the aircraft standing on an airfield, besides a glimpse of the inside of the aircraft’s cabin.
The domestically-produced commercial aircraft are manufactured by the state-run Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC). But are they entirely local?
As per the news agency AFP, most of the parts of the aircraft are sourced from abroad. The production of C919 is reliant on foreign-sourced parts, but China has said that homegrown alternatives are in the works.
Although, it’s quite common for countries to procure foreign parts in the production process, but in the case of C919, about 60% of the main suppliers are American companies such as General Electric, Honeywell and Eaton Corp., according to a report by the Center for Strategic & International Studies, which is a Washington-based think tank.
Reports have stated that the plane has a range of 4,075 to 5,555 kilometres and can carry 158 to 168 passengers based on cabin arrangement.
When one refers to the number of mockups, the plane might be configured with an all-economic cabin or a multi-class configuration with the economy, business, etc.
COMAC said at an airshow last month that it had secured orders for 300 C919s. There’s no official confirmation about the orders, regarding the details of the value of the deals or delivery dates.
But if the orders go through, they would take the number of known deals for the C919 to over 1,100.
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