China's first self-developed large passenger aircraft, the C919, has successfully completed all test flights and will soon receive its airworthiness certificate, the vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said yesterday.
The news signals that the large single-aisle trunk airliner will start commercial flights soon. China has signed 204 bilateral airworthiness agreements with 27 countries and regions, including Canada, Brazil, Australia and Russia, which means that C919 flights can serve international as well as domestic routes.
COMAC has already received 815 orders amounting to RMB 500 billion (USD 74 billion) for the C919 airliner from 28 clients, according to the Beijing-based company’s website.
COMAC predicts that 40,664 new aircraft will be delivered between 2020 and 2039, with a market value of USD 5.9 trillion. Sales of COMAC's C919 and its smaller ARJ21 model could reach USD 732 billion.
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