China's first home-grown jet airliner, the ARJ21-700,
rolls off the production line at the Shanghai Aircraft
Manufacturing Factory yesterday. The jet's name, "Xiang Feng" or
"Flying Phoenix," was also unveiled after being chosen in Internet
competition.
China's first homemade passenger jet ARJ21 rolled off the
production line in Shanghai yesterday marking a major step forward
for the domestic aviation market.
The ARJ21 jet's name, "Xiang Feng" - Flying Phoenix - was also
unveiled at the roll-out ceremony. The name was chosen after a
global competition on the Internet, said a spokesman for the China
Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I), the jet's designer and
producer.
The first ARJ21-700 jet, powered by a turbofan engine, can carry
90 passengers with a maximum range of 2,000 nautical miles.
"China's aviation industry stepped into a new era today," Lin
Zuoming, the general manager of AVIV I, said at the inauguration
ceremony at the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory.
Shenzhen Airlines added to the impressive ceremony by signing a
deal with AVIC I to buy 100 ARJ jets. The maker had received orders
for 71 jets before the Shenzhen deal, mainly from carriers and
plane leasing units like Shanghai Airlines, Shandong Airlines and
Laos Airlines.
"Some foreign companies are showing increasing interest in the
ARJ21 jets. We expect to receive more overseas orders in the first
half of next year," said a source with AVIC I.
The mid-size, short-haul airliner's maiden flight is scheduled
for March 2008 and the plane will be delivered to customers by
September 2009 after it has its airworthiness certified in the
first half of that year.
Shandong Airlines is expected to be its first user.
Vice chief designer Chen Yong said the jet will go through more
than 170 tests before it gets the certification.
Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan encouraged AVIC I to promote the sales
of ARJ21 internationally and to keep working on research and
development for larger aircraft.
"The orders for 171 jets show ARJ's competitive ability and
prosperous future - I believe the jet has come of age in both
technology and in sales," Zeng said.
The ARJ21, or Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century, can
seat 90 passengers in its 3.14-meter wide and 2.06-meter high cabin
and its seats are wider than Boeing's 737.
The project, which dates back to early 2005, is seen as the
precursor to China building its own big jets one day. The entire
development has cost six billion yuan (US$815 million).
A 600-million-yuan hangar covering 65,000 square meters was
completed at Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory on Wednesday
for the jet's assembly and trials.
AVIC I said the ARJ-21 is expected to grab up to 60 percent of
the domestic market for mid-size regional airliners over the next
20 years.
Experts estimate that China will need another 800 to 1,000
regional jets by 2020 and the production capacity of ARJ will reach
30 aircraft annually by 2011.
The project will enable the state-owned AVIC I to compete with
other makers of smaller passenger jets, such as Canada's Bombardier
Inc and Brazil's Embraer SA.
(Shanghai Daily December 24, 2007)
