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China’s home-grown jet rolls out

— Photo: AP

A MAJOR LEAP: The Xiang Feng or “Flying Phoenix” is towed into a hangar at the Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory amid flashing laser lights and rousing band music unveiling ceremony in Shanghai on Friday.

SHANGHAI: China’s first home-grown regional jet, ARJ21-700, rolled off the production line in Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory on Friday, said a spokesman of the producer.

The ARJ21 (Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century) is named Xiang Feng meaning “Flying Phoenix.” The name was chosen in a global competition via the internet, said the spokesman of the China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I), the jet’s designer and producer.

The first ARJ21-700 jet, powered by a turbofan engine, can carry 90 passengers with a maximum range of 2,000 nautical miles.

It is planned to make its maiden flight in March and be delivered to customers in the third quarter of 2009 after it gets airworthiness certification in the first half of the same year.

Vice chief designer Chen Yong said the jet would go through more than 170 tests before it gets the certification.

“The ARJ21 also focuses on comfort. The passenger cabin is 123 inches wide, 15 to 25 inches wider than Bombardier’s CRJ700 and CRJ900, and Brazil’s ERJ170 and ERJ190. The seat is 0.9 inch wider than that of the Boeing 737,” said Mr. Chen. “It’s one of the amplest cabins of any regional plane in the world. We aim to provide regional air passengers with the service comparable to trunk line airplanes,” he added.

The AVIC I has received orders for 171 Xiang Feng aircraft, said the spokesman. With 70 to 110 seats, it is the world’s first plane designed to take into account China’s natural environment. It will be capable of landing and taking off at airports in western China’s plateau in high temperatures.

The programme was formally approved by Chinese authorities in 2002, with a first-stage investment of $667 million from the government.

The ARJ21 is featured for its safety and low price.

It is the first regional jet that China has fully developed on its own, in accordance with the standards set by the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (GACAC), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA). — Xinhua

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