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China unveils first homemade airliner

The narrow-body jet is meant to give tough competition to aircraft manufacturing giants Boeing Co.

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“The plane with 158 seats and a standard flight range of 4,075 km was developed by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC)”. China is one of the biggest aviation markets but relies on Boeing and Airbus aircraft, and the multibillion-dollar effort to create the homegrown C919 jetliner is aimed at clawing back a few of the commercial benefits that flow to foreign suppliers.

However, a few aviation enthusiasts in China are not so sure about the state media’s claim that the C919 is a product of “complete Chinese intellectual property”.

With analysts and experts expecting China to become the largest air travel market in the world in the next two decades, it was a matter of time that it would start manufacturing aircraft at home. Most of its critical systems-including engines and avionics-are being supplied by Western companies or foreign-Chinese joint ventures.

Airbus holds a similarly bullish view and has been assembling its popular A320 family aircraft in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin since 2008. Last month, the Export-Import Bank of China said it would provide state-owned COMAC with US$7.9 billion in finance for its aircraft projects.

During President Xi Jinping’s recent state visit to the United States, China signed a deal with Boeing to purchase 300 airliners worth $38 billion at list prices.

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But it will take years for the C919 to be delivered to customers, with the plane expected to enter service in 2019 at the earliest, industry officials said.

AFP -For China its new passenger plane C919 represents at least seven years of efforts in a state-mandated drive to reduce dependence on European consortium Airbus and Boeing of the US