The maiden flight of China's first homegrown commercial jet was planned for this month, but has been postponed to September or October owing to delays in the delivery of key components, a government news agency said yesterday.
Officials were promoting the 85-seat ARJ21 as the basis for a Chinese passenger jet industry to rival regional jets produced by Canada's Bombardier and Brazil's Embraer.
The manufacturer, state-owned AVIC I Commercial Aircraft Co, has postponed the flight due to the late arrival of components, Xinhua news agency quoted a company spokesman as saying.
"We are making efforts to ensure the key parts including the flight control system [are] delivered in time so that our customers won't be affected," Xinhua quoted the unidentified spokesman as saying.
AVIC I says it plans to begin mass production of the plane, dubbed the Xiangfeng or "Flying Phoenix," next year.
The first plane rolled off the assembly line on Dec. 21 in an event shown on national television.
The communist government wants to build a commercial aerospace industry driven by China's booming air travel.
It also hopes to attract foreign customers.
The company has predicted that China will need about 900 midsize regional jets to serve fast-growing feeder routes over the next two decades.
It says the ARJ21 is expected to grab up to 60 percent of the domestic market for regional airliners during that period.
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