China has unveiled its first domestically built passenger jet, a major milestone for the Communist nation as it pursues a decades-old dream of having its own civilian aviation sector to compete with Airbus and Boeing.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Advertisement
A look at the first made-in-China passenger aircraft
In a significant boost to China's efforts to catch up with industrialized countries on the high-tech front, a state-owned Chinese manufacturer has unveiled the East Asian nation's first large passenger plane.
Image: Reuters
'A significant milestone'
Commercial Aircraft Corp. (COMAC) presented its new creation to the world on November 2 — the C919 jet. The single-aisle plane, which can seat up to 168 passengers and has a range of up to 5,555 kilometers (3,452 miles), was unveiled in Shanghai. "The rollout of the first C919 marks a significant milestone in the development of China's first indigenous aircraft," said COMAC chief Jin Zhuanglong.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
An impressive ceremony
About 4,000 government officials and other guests were present at the ceremony that took place at a hangar near Shanghai's Pudong International Airport. A small truck towed the 39-meter-long plane out of a cavernous building decorated with an enormous Chinese flag.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
A delayed entry
Development of the twin-engine C919 started in 2008. Plans called for a first flight in 2014 and for it to enter service in 2016, but those targets were pushed back due to production delays. The aircraft is now expected to enter service in 2019 at the earliest.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Foreign support
Although the C919 is made in China, many of the plane's critical systems such as engines and avionics are being supplied by either foreign firms or joint ventures between Chinese companies and Western manufacturers.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
A huge market
China is one of the world's biggest aviation markets, with Boeing projecting the country's total demand for civilian aircraft over the next two decades to be worth over $800 billion. Boeing and Airbus, the European aviation giant, have long eyed the lucrative market and want to position themselves as the main suppliers of planes to China.
Image: Getty Images/ChinaFotoPress
Moving up the value chain
However, China's leadership has been striving to transform the country from being the world's factory of low-cost goods into a manufacturer of high-tech products. The development of the C919 is part of these restructuring efforts and helps the country ascend the product value chain and become a maker of high-value items.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Eisele
Increased competition?
The single-aisle C919 is expected to compete with Airbus' A320 and Boeing's 737 for market share, not only in China but also in other markets. The plane's maker, COMAC, says it has already received orders for 517 of its jets from 21 customers. While most of the orders come from China-based carriers, there are also a few from foreign ones.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Eisele
Big business
The unveiling of the C919 came just days after Airbus signed contracts with Chinese partners on the delivery of 100 A320 passenger planes and 30 A330 aircraft worth €15.4 billion ($17 billion). The deals were signed during German Chancellor Angela Merkel's recent visit to China.
Image: Airbus S.A.S 2012
8 images1 | 8
The 39-meter-long (128 feet), narrow body aircraft was towed out of a cavernous production hall on Monday and shown off to representatives of government and industry in a characteristic show of pomp.
"The rollout of the first C919 aircraft marks a significant milestone in the development of China's first indigenous aircraft," Jin Zhuanglong, chairman of China's Commercial Aircraft Corp. (COMAC), which built the plane, told gathered officials.
Workers spent a year assembling the jet and its unveiling marked the culmination of a seven-year effort to reduce China's dependence on foreign aviation giants, specifically Airbus from Europe and Boeing from the United States.
At the ceremony, China's civil aviation chief, Li Jiaxiang, said "a great nation must have its own large commercial aircraft."
Foreign parts
Be that as it may, the plane still contains key components that did not fit the bill "Made in China."
For instance, the engines were built by CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric (GE) of the US and France's Safran.
The new jet was a big step, but China's dreams of an independent aviation industry are still a long way off. COMAC said it wouldn't start delivering any C919s to customers for several years, although it did note that it already had 517 orders on its books.
The project to build Chinese planes is being financed by the country's Export-Import Bank, which made available $7.9 billion (7.2 billion euros). COMAC did not say how much its first C919 had cost to build.
The new aircraft will be able to transport up to 168 passengers across a maximum distance of 5,555 kilometers (3,452 miles).
