Currently, a proposal for a preliminary design has already been completed for the domestically-made C919 jumbo jet with 168 seats as its standard configuration.
(The definition is decidedly iffy. An aircraft that can only carry 168 passengers is normally, by any accepted definition, not a jumbo. But let it pass.)
The manufacturing division says it will be capable of producing 150 domestically-made jumbo jets each year, with overall output reaching 3,000 planes, which will place the company third in the international jumbo jet market.
It is planned for the aircraft to have its first test flight in 2014 and to be delivered for commercial use by airlines in 2016.
English People’s Daily Online reported that at a news conference for the 13th Aviation Expo China Chen Jin, director of the sales department at the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), the manufacturer of the domestically-made jumbo jet, said the domestically-made C919 jumbo jet has already completed its preliminary design proposal and a feasibility report had been submitted to the State Council.
Chen said the plan is to have the first test flight in 2014 so that it can be used for commercial use by airlines in 2016.
Chen said COMAC will build a research and development center, a general assembly manufacturing center and a customer service center in Shanghai.
The three centers are currently expanding their staff size. Both the R&D center and the customer service center will each recruit an additional 2,000 people. The general assembly manufacturing center will expand its staff size from the current 2,000 to 20,000.
You must log in to post a comment.