China's home-grown aircraft, the C919, gains 50 new preliminary orders

China's home-grown aircraft, the C919, received 50 new preliminary orders from three airlines yesterday, bringing total orders for the 150-seat airliner to 380.

The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), the manufacturer of the aircraft scheduled to have its first flight test in 2014, also signed a memorandum of understanding with the defunct Eastern Air Lines, reviving speculation about a rebirth of the US-based airline.

British Airways and Ryanair have agreed to purchase the aircraft without specifying the size of the orders.

Hebei Aviation Group, which is controlled by China Energy Group, and Joy Airlines, a joint venture between China Eastern Airlines and Aviation Industry Corporation of China, have ordered 20 aircraft each. Existing customer GE Capital meanwhile doubled its order to 20.

The new orders signed at the 9th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai bring the total number of customers of the C919 to 15.

Rival Bombardier has received a similar reception for its C series, which can accommodate 100-149 seats, with 352 orders from 13 customers. "I don't think the C919 and the C Series are direct competitors," said Andy Solem, vice-president of China & North Asia sales at Bombardier Commercial Aviation. "They only overlap partially at some parts of the market in the world."