China’s domestically developed C919 passenger jet completed its second test flight on Thursday, the jet’s maker said, but the duration and near five-month gap since its first flight have raised questions over whether its latest delivery target can be met.
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s domestically developed C919 passenger jet completed its second test flight on Thursday, the jet’s maker said, but the duration and near five-month gap since its first flight have raised questions over whether its latest delivery target can be met.
The narrow-body C919, which will compete with Boeing Co’s ( BA. N) 737 and the Airbus SE ( AIR. PA) A320, is a symbol of China’s ambition to muscle into a global jet market estimated to be worth $2 trillion over the next 20 years.
However, the program has faced lengthy delays and missed its original target of delivery to customers by 2016 – a date reportedly pushed back to 2020. Sales to date have been restricted largely to its home market because it has yet to be certified by regulators in the United States and Europe.
Thursday’s flight was the second for the initial C919 test model, whose maiden flight was on May 5. The second of six planned test aircraft, which achieved power-on of its systems in July, has yet to fly.
Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd (COMAC) [CMAFC. UL] said the plane reached an altitude of 10,000 feet during a flight that took off from Shanghai’s Pudong Airport at 07:22 a.m. (2322 GMT) and landed at 10:08 a.m.
“Various elements of the test flight, including with the raising/lowering of the landing gear, were all completed smoothly,” COMAC said in a statement.
