C919 orders reach 400

Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), the producer of the home-made C919 aircraft, declared late Monday that it has signed an agreement to deliver 20 C919 airliners to Industrial Bank Financial Leasing Co, its 16th client, pushing the total amount of C919 planes ordered to 400.

In an e-mail to the Global Times, a spokesman of COMAC also responded to the concern of delays with the C919 airliner's first flight and first delivery, revealing that the body of the C919 has officially gone into production and the company aims to achieve the first flight by the end of 2015.

COMAC also said they have received the airworthiness certification for their ARJ21 advanced regional jet and plan to finish the first delivery by the end of 2014.