BEIJING, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's first domestically produced regional jet model was officially certified on Tuesday, marking a crucial step forward for the jet's entry into the market.
The ARJ21-700 won the certificate after a series of examinations by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) using the country's airworthiness standards.
The ARJ21, short for Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century, is a type of regional airliner designed and manufactured by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC).
There are 78 seats in a dual-class configuration and 90 seats in a full economy class configuration. Its economic life is designed to be 60,000 flying hours or 20 calendar years.
The first ARJ21-700 jet was designed and manufactured between 2003 and 2007 and made its first test flight in November 2008. Since then, the jet has completed more than 5,000 hours of test flights.
After the CAAC started the jet's certification process in 2012, a total of 300 ground examinations and more than 1,141 hours of test flights were carried out, the CAAC said.
Certification is not the end of the process, said Luo Ronghuai, vice president of COMAC and also head of the ARJ21 project.
There must be a period for improving the model's design, systems and operations before its entry into the market, Luo said.
The jet will still need to gain brand recognition and market share in order to be a success, and eventually it must be able to bring profits to the airlines that use it, he said.
The jet currently has 278 orders, COMAC data showed.
Related:
China encourages airlines to use domestically produced jets
BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- China's airlines are encouraged to use Chinese aircraft, including the regional jet model ARJ21, an official with China's civil aviation authority said Thursday.
The country should accelerate the development of routes in central and western areas and regional aviation, Zhou Laizhen, deputy director of Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), said at a conference.Full story
Chinese military jet, vessel join search for missing AirAsia flight
BEIJING, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday announced that it will send aircraft and vessel to join the search and rescue work for missing AirAsia flight QZ8501.
"After consultations with the Indonesian government, the Chinese government has decided to send aircraft and vessel to search for the missing AirAsia flight," the defense ministry said in a statement released Monday night.Full story
China jet captain jailed 3 yrs for crash killing 44
YICHUN, Heilongjiang, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- The captain of a passenger plane which crashed in northeast China four years ago was sentenced to three years in prison for misoperation.
The flight VD8387, which flied from Harbin to Yichun in Heilongjiang Province, crashed while attempting to land at the airport in Yichun on Aug. 24, 2010. The disaster killed 44 people, including the co-pilot, and injured 52 others.Full story
|
