The C919 passenger jet, made by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, was unveiled Monday, and will soon compete in the global market against airliners made by U.S. and European companies like Boeing and Airbus.
According to The Telegraph U.K., the twin-engine plane was shown off at a ceremony attended by 4,000 government officials and guests at a hangar near Shanghai's Pudong International Airport.
The Chinese manufacturer said that it has already received 517 orders for the C919 from 21 customers, adding that deliveries are expected in 2018 or 2019 after a few more years of flight testing.
Depending on seat sizes and spacing, the new airplane should be able to hold between 158 and 174 passengers. Its most direct competitors are Airbus’ A320 family and Boeing’s 737 series,
according to The Wall Street Journal.
Greg Waldron, the Asia managing editor of industry publication Flightglobal, remained conservative in his estimation of the new craft.
"If you’re going to get foreign orders for the C919, I think they’re going to need to see a lot of data about how the aircraft performs," he said. "The airlines will need to see tons of operational data, they’ll need assurances of international customer support."
Airbus, which maintains a global duopoly with Boeing, released a statement of congratulations to the Chinese firm, calling it an "important milestone."
"The market is big enough for more than two manufacturers," the company said.
China is also preparing the debut of its smaller ARJ21 regional jet, the release of which has been repeatedly pushed back from its original 2010 delivery schedule.
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