C919 reaches another milestone

China on Thursday completed the assembly of the first nose of the C919, the nation's first domestically made single-aisle passenger aircraft.

The 6.6-meter-long nose comprising some 3,200 parts went off the assembly line at the Aviation Industry Corporation of China Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Group in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. It includes the canopy for the cockpit, front cabin and ground floor for the nose.

The first C919 aircraft will be assembled later this year and make its maiden flight late next year. Deliveries of the C919 are scheduled for 2018. The company has 400 orders for the C919 so far.