Regional Round-Up
China's C919 launch delayed
September 1st 2013
China has pushed back the first flight of its homegrown midsize commuter jet, the C919, from 2014 to year end 2015. The head of the C919 advisory group, Zhang Yanzhong, said the C919’s manufacturer, Comac, had to deal with inexperience in jet manufacturing and shortfalls in technical knowledge in developing the jet, which is intended to compete with Airbus and Boeing. Read More »
“In fact, if the C919 can achieve its first flight within 90 months of development that would be a feat,” said Zhang, adding the production starting date was 2008. The C919 development timeline should start from 2008, when Comac was established, and not the 2006 announcement of plans to build the jet, he said.
Comac has 380 commitments for the C919, mainly from Mainland airlines and Chinese aircraft leasing companies.
* Meanwhile, in August, Mitsubishi announced the first flight of its 70 to 90-seat regional jet (MRJ) would be delayed 18 months. This is the second delay. The new launch date is planned for mid-2017.
It said “design and respective certification have taken greater resources than anticipated, which, in turn, impacted component deliveries and aircraft fabrication”. All Nippon Airways is the jet’s launch customer.
