(MENAFN) C919, China's first domestically produced airliner, obtained its government-issued fit-to-fly certificate on Friday. It is anticipated to compete with Boeing and Airbus, but it has a long way to go before it can compete with the two large Western aircraft manufacturers.
The aircraft, which took the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) roughly 14 years to construct, is a 168-seater, single-aisle, medium-haul aircraft designed to compete with Boeing's 737 Max and Airbus' A320neo in the coming years.
Chinese official media and analysts emphasized the airworthiness certificate, claiming that China is now the only country capable of producing a big passenger aircraft, except from the United States, with Airbus being a European firm.
President Xi Jinping, who had met representatives from the C919 project team on Friday, named the development a breakthrough in “China’s high-end equipment manufacturing” and urged “for solid progress in building the country into a manufacturing powerhouse”.
“Safety and reliability should come first, and all potential safety hazards should be eliminated,” Xi was cited as stating by the official news agency Xinhua.
MENAFN02102022000045011137ID1104956233
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.