A Chinese-developed passenger plane has been certified by China’s aviation regulator, clearing the way for the ARJ21 regional jet to fly domestic routes, the manufacturer and reports in state media said earlier this week.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Tuesday officially deemed the ARJ21 airworthy, Xinhua news agency reported.
A spokesman for Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC, 中國商用飛機), the plane’s builder, told reporters that the final domestic regulatory hurdle had been cleared. However, the ARJ21 still lacks approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Potential sales and use of the ARJ21 outside China depend “on the CAAC and other countries’ level of recognition of its certification,” the spokesman said.
FAA certification would enable the plane to fly in the US and assure passengers of its safety. Without it, the aircraft would have a more limited market, industry officials say.
“There must be a period for improving the model’s design, systems and operations before its entry into the market,” COMAC vice president Luo Ronghuai (羅榮懷) was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
The first ARJ21 jet was designed and built between 2003 and 2007 with the inaugural flight in November 2008, according to reports in state media.
However, deliveries to customers are years behind schedule, with an original deadline of 2009.
Even so, the plane already has 278 orders after COMAC announced a 20-plane purchase on the sidelines of China’s Zhuhai airshow in November.
The manufacturer is set to begin small-scale production of the ARJ21 this year, Shanghai television reported.
China has bigger ambitions than a regional jet. COMAC has just started assembling the C919, a 158 to 168-seat narrow-body aircraft that would compete with Boeing’s 737 and Airbus’ A320.
The Chinese company is also developing a wide-body passenger plane — tentatively called the C929 — in cooperation with Russia’s United Aircraft Corp.
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