COMAC C919 inaugural flight


 

The Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) has won orders for 30 C919s from China Everbright Financial Leasing. According to a statement, both companies signed the deal June 13 in Beijing.

To date, COMAC has received orders for 600 C919s from 24 customers home and abroad.

The Chinese manufacturer launched the inaugural flight of its C919 narrowbody May 5. However, COMAC test flight engineering director You Liyan told local press last month it would take about three years for the C919 to get an airworthiness certificate, after which COMAC is committed to produce 20-50 of the type annually.

By 2020, the C919 production rate is expected to increase to 150 per year; production rate for the ARJ21 regional aircraft is scheduled to rise to 50 per year.

By 2035, COMAC aims to take a third of the Chinese narrowbody market and a fifth of the global market. It is expected that China will take delivery of more than 5,500 new aircraft worth US$670 billion in the next 20 years.

Launched in May 2010, China Everbright Financial Leasing, with a registered capital of 3.7 billion yuan(US$545 million), is a subsidiary of China Everbright Bank that holds a 90% stake in the leasing company.