The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) yesterday signed a 5-billion-yuan contract to sell 25 ARJ21-700 regional jets to GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS), marking what is considered to be a major breakthrough in the overseas sales of the country's first homegrown jet.
The delivery will start in 2013 and the 70-90 seat feeder jet will have its maiden flight in mid-November, said Zhang Qingwei, board chairman of COMAC.
Zhang said the regional jet is expected to receive certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration in 2010. The company will use four planes for test flights before commercial service begins.
"This is the biggest foreign order China has ever got and it marks the first time that the country's domestically developed and produced commercial jet enters the US market," Zhang said.
GECAS, a leading global player in commercial aircraft leasing and finance, will lease the 25 jets to "a global client, or a Chinese and even European client", said Roger Seager, vice-president of GECAS.
The ARJ21 has received 181 orders from domestic carriers. Shenzhen Airlines signed the largest single deal for 100 ARJ21 jets last year.
China will need 993 regional airplanes in the next 20 years, according to a report issued by the Aviation Industry Corp of China yesterday.
Source: China Daily
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