C919 passenger jet certified to fly as Xi Jinping urges China to ‘climb to top of science, technology’
- China’s home-grown C919 narrow-body passenger jet has been certified to fly, state media confirmed on Friday
- Single-aisle C919, manufactured by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), is expected to compete with Boeing’s 737 and Airbus’ A320
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China’s first home-grown passenger jet is certified to fly after 5 years of tests
China’s home-grown C919 narrow-body passenger jet has been certified to fly, according to state media, with Chinese President Xi Jinping urging the nation to “climb to the top of the world’s science and technology”.
The single-aisle C919, manufactured by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) that is poised to challenge Boeing and Airbus, completed all its airworthiness certification work in September.
It has now obtained a “type certificate” issued by Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and the first aircraft will be delivered by the end of 2022, the state-backed Xinhua News Agency said on Friday.
Xinhua said Xi met with a C919 delegation on Friday in Beijing ahead of China’s National Day on Saturday and 20th party congress in mid-October.
To be ambitious, we must strive to climb to the top of the world’s science and technology
“We must focus on long-term strategies, formulate practical goals according to the real situation, choose the correct technical route, and do it one by one, one thing after another. To be ambitious, we must strive to climb to the top of the world’s science and technology,” Xi said, according to Xinhua.