Full-size mock-up of Sino-Russian CR929 wide-body debuts in Zhuhai

The CRAIG CR929 will compete with the Airbus A350 and the Boeing 787 (UAC)

A life-sized mock-up of the 22-metre-long forward section of the CRAIC CR929 wide-body, long-haul airliner has made its debut at the Zhuhai Airshow in China, in a presentation jointly organised by the project’s developers, Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and its Chinese partner COMAC.

The mock-up offers an opportunity to preview the design concept of the passenger cabin, with two rows of first-class seats, three and four rows of business and economy classes – and an interior equipped with a state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment system. The aircraft’s flight deck is also part of the display.

The final dimensions of the CR929 were fixed in June, with the length of the fuselage for the base version of the aircraft, dubbed the CR929-600, determined as 63.755 metres. All versions – the base, short (-500) and long (-700) – feature a common wing with a span of 63.3 metres and offer a maximum take off weight of 245 tonnes.

The CR929-600 will offer seating capacity for 280 passengers configured in a three-class cabin layout and will provide a flight range of up to 12,000 km.

The new aircraft programme, developed by the Shanghai-headquartered China-Russia Commercial Aircraft International Corp (CRAIC), is currently in the preliminary design and system supplier line-up stage. The next phase, the joint definition stage, takes place in the second half of next year, whilst proposals for engines and landing gear have already been submitted, UAC says. Although the joint design and engineering centre for the programme is located in Moscow (JET-team), the final assembly is to be set up in Shanghai.

Meanwhile, the company has recently announced that the programme is running two years ahead of initial schedule, and assembly of the first prototype is now scheduled for 2021, followed by the maiden flight in 2023 and entry into service in 2025. The CRAIC CR929 will compete with the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 types.

The mock-up cabin is equipped with two rows of first-class seats, three of business and four of economy class (UAC)

CR929