China’s ARJ21-700 test flight successful

On November 28, 2008, China successfully completed the maiden flight of its first independently developed regional jet aircraft, the ARJ21-700. Embraer and Bombardier better watch out!

ARJ21-700 test flight successful

“The maiden flight of the fully homegrown commercial aircraft, the ARJ21-700, marks a major stage in China’s civil aircraft manufacturing industry. It is a key step in the country’s ambitious aviation programme,” said the state-controlled newspaper China Daily.

The 33-metre-long ARJ21 is an acronym for ‘Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century.’

The ARJ21-700 project, a key high-tech project in China’s 2001-2005 five-year plan has been built at a cost of 6 billion yuan (US $879 million). The ARJ21-700 project was approved by the State Council in 2002.

China’s official news agency Xinhua quoted Zhao Peng, one of the three pilots aboard the jet, as saying, after the flight, “The flight was made from a local airport in northern Shanghai’s Baoshan district and went extremely well. For safety reasons, the aircraft was allowed to attain a maximum height of only 900 metres (2,953 feet). The jet was normal and the flight was smooth.”

After the trial flight, the ARJ-21-700, powered by a turbofan engine, will have 18 months to finish its tests and earn its airworthiness certificate. Deliveries of the jets, costing $27 million apiece, are expected to begin in 2010.

The 90-seat jet, nicknamed the ‘Flying Phoenix,’ was produced at the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory, a unit of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). It has a maximum flight range of 3,700 kilometres (2,300 miles) and maximum altitude of 11,900 metres (39,000 feet).

“The perfect maiden flight laid a solid foundation for achieving the country’s goal to produce its own jumbo jet,” Zhang Qingwei, chairman of the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, the airplane’s manufacturer, was quoted as saying. China Daily also quoted aviation analysts on the ARJ21-700 as saying, “With the successful development of the ARJ21, the country is expected to make headway in what is seen as a highly monopolised civil aircraft market involving the Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier groups.”

Jumbo aircrafts are planes with more than 150 seats or a payload exceeding 100 tons. Only the United States, Russia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain build the huge planes at present.

According to Xinhua, the ARJ21-700 project aims to make the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China a rival to international manufacturers of regional jet aircraft, such as Bombardier Incorporated of Canada and Embraer SA of Brazil.

It is estimated that China would need 900 mid-sized regional jets over the next two decades “as economic growth drives an expansion of air travel and airlines look for planes best tailored to feeder routes,” Xinhua said.

The manufacturer, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, says that the ARJ21-700 is expected to corner up to 60% of the domestic market for mid-sized passenger jets in the next two decades. The Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory has an annual production capability of 20 ARJ21 jets and the goal is to assemble 50 jets each year in Shanghai alone, an official said.

The price and quality of ARJ21 jets have attracted interest from airlines outside of China.

A total of 208 jets have already been ordered, including 25 aircraft by GE Commercial Aviation Services of the United States.