China's ARJ21 regional jet eyes global market

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, March 30, 2004

China's ARJ21 regional jet eyes global market

The ARJ21 turbofan aircraft, a China-made regional jet still under production, is expected to enter the global market in 2008, industry sources say.

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The ARJ21 turbofan aircraft, a China-made regional jet still under production, is expected to enter the global market in 2008, industry sources say.

The aircraft will hopefully get an airworthiness certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration by the end of 2007, which will facilitate its entry into the US market, said Chinese and US aviation officials during a recent survey in the eastern commercial hub Shanghai.

US certification of the aircraft would broaden China-US cooperation in the aviation industry and the widely recognized approval would eventually bring the China-made aircraft to global markets, said Bai Yongkuan, an airworthiness official with the Commercial Aircraft Co., Ltd. of China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I).

AVIC I is the developer of the 70 to 90-seat aircraft.

John J. Hickey, an aircraft verification official with FAA, said he was deeply impressed with China's progress in aircraft research and manufacturing, as well as the sample ARJ21 on display at Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Co.

Hickey said he was confident of the China-made aircraft and hoped to board one during his next visit to China in 2007.

Kim Wolfley, FAA representative for the Asia-Pacific region, said the aircraft could be used to carry out flights between China's mainland and the island province of Taiwan, a direct route he hoped would open at an earlier date.

China owned all the intellectual property, production and use rights for the ARJ21, which is designed to fly distances anywhere from 1,200 to 2,000 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 833 kilometers per hour in the country's western regions. Its running costs were estimated at five to 10 percent below similar aircraft.

AVIC I has received orders for 35 aircraft, after production was launched last December in the cities of Shanghai, Shenyang, Chengdu and Xi'an.

Source: Xinhua

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