The Commercial Aircraft Corp of China yesterday won a contract for 30 C919 aircraft and 20 ARJ21 regional jets from China Huarong Financial Leasing Co.
The latest deal brings the total number of orders for C919, the first domestically developed single-aisle 150-seat passenger jet, to 815, and the total orders for ARJ21 to 453.
COMAC has so far secured orders from 28 foreign and domestic customers for C919, including Air China and leasing company GE Capital Aviation Service. Overseas orders, which account for 10 percent of the total, include Germany's PuRen Airlines and Thailand's City Airways, as well as carriers from Asia-Pacific and Africa.
The C919, which has 168 seats and a standard range of 4,075 kilometers, will compete for orders with the updated A320 from Airbus and the new generation of the Boeing 737.
The first C919 jet is now at the Yanliang Testing Base in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, where it is undergoing further tests, having completed its maiden flight on May 5, 2017. The second prototype of the C919 wrapped up its first test flight in December 2017.
The 90-seat ARJ21, the nation's first regional aircraft, began commercial operations in June 2016, with the first flight between Shanghai and Chengdu, capital of southwestern Sichuan Province.
