COMAC of China has received 30 ARJ21-700 orders from China Merchants Bank Financial leasing arm

The Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) has received an order for 30 C919s from China Merchants Bank financial leasing arm. COMAC also received 23 orders for its regional ARJ21-700 aircraft—comprising 20 from Comsys (Tianjin) International Leasing Co. and three from Congo Transport Ministry.

COMAC has received a total of 278 orders for the ARJ21-700, mainly from domestic airlines and clients in developing countries. COMAC chairman Jin Zhuanglong said first delivery of the ARJ21 will be to Chengdu Airlines. The aircraft is due to enter service in April or May 2015, eight years later than originally scheduled and 13 years after development began.

Jin said the C919 would try to make an inaugural flight by the end of this year. First delivery will take place in 2018 or 2019 at the earliest.

To date, the Chinese manufacturer has received 430 orders for the C919, mainly from Chinese airlines and Chinese leasing companies.

According to COMAC, Chinese carriers will take delivery of 5,541 new aircraft in the next 20 years, including 3,687 narrowbody aircraft valued $329.7 billion.

“We hope the C919 can take up one-third share of China’s market in the next 10 or 20 years,” a COMAC insider noted.

(Katie Cantle - ATWOnline News)