China's first large airliner to make maiden flight in 2015  

中国首架大飞机计划明年底首飞 项目进展顺利

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) watches in the pilothouse of C919 passenger jet model at the design and research center of Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) during his inspection in Shanghai on May 23, 2014. (Photo source: Xinhua)

(ECNS)-- China's first homemade large passenger aircraft, the C919, is expected to make its maiden flight by the end of 2015, China Military Online reported on Thursday.

The information was released Wednesday by an official at the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), the developer of the plane.

The C919's forward fuselage rolled off the assembly line at the Hongdu Aviation Industry Group in Jiangxi province on May 15, according to Han Kecen, vice-president of COMAC's Shanghai Aircraft Design and Research Institute.

The final assembly of the C919 is expected to be carried out in the second half of the year, Han said, adding that the project is unfolding smoothly.

The company has already received 400 orders from 16 customers from home and abroad, including aircraft leasing company GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS).

Launched in 2008, the C919 project is the country's latest attempt to break the duopoly of Europe's Airbus and the United States' Boeing. The aircraft is set to compete against the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737.