China reaches for the sky

China’s first big plane completed its maiden flight on May 5, 2017. Eight years after the beginning of the project the C919 took off at Shanghai Pudong International Airport for the first time. The plane will carry its first passengers in 2020 after a long certification process. On the first flight, there were five people on board. The flight lasted one hour and 19 minutes. The Chinese Company Comac who built the jet had broadcast live images from the inside of the jet’s cockpit. Neither Airbus nor Boeing, the two most popular aircraft manufacturers in the world, had done that before This aircraft has the capability of carrying 168 passengers and travelling at a distance of 5,555 km without refueling. It is the biggest Chinese plane ever built. The C919’s main customers will be China’s domestic airlines. Before the C919, they had just the ARJ21 as a Chinese plane, which is a small regional jet for only 70 passengers. This type of plane is not offered by Airbus and Boeing. However, the new Comac plane has the same profile as Airbus’s A320 and Boeing’s 737-800. With this new prototype China will join the ranks of the countries that build big planes. In 2014 Chinese president Xi Jinping stated he was sad that China didn’t have “made in China” planes. Currently the Chinese government aims to be a major player in the aviation industry.

Magali