The Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corp (SSAC), a Taiwanese-US joint venture, which is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, announced on Friday that its SJ30-2 commercial aircraft has recently received a key certificate from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
By securing the FAA license documentation, SSAC Chairman Kuo Ching-chiang (郭清江) said, the company can now start volume production of this brand new commercial airliner.
It marks the first time in nearly 42 years that the FAA has issued such a certificate to a new type of commercial aircraft designed by a brand new aircraft company, Kuo said.
"The acquisition of the license is of great significance to Sino Swearingen, as it will help bring many more business opportunities to the company," Kuo said, adding that the federal certification also marks a new milestone in the development of Taiwan's aviation industry.
SSAC has received orders for 280 SJ30-2s from the US, Canada, Britain, Switzerland, and Germany, Kuo said, adding that the company is scheduled to deliver the first airliner to a client next spring.
Noting that Taiwan holds a more than 95 percent stake in SSAC, Kuo said that the company has established a viable model of using Taiwanese capital and US technology to upgrade Taiwan's aviation industry.
SSAC senior vice president Alfred Baumbusch said that the SJ30-2 is a high-performance commercial airliner capable of flying a distance of 4,600km without refueling.
"The SJ30-2 is the world's fastest and best performing light business jet at the world's best value. It has a high speed cruise speed above Mach 0.83. Equally important is its long range cruising speed of Mach 0.78 -- faster than many jets' `high speed cruising speed,'" he added.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard