Russian and Chinese engineers collaborate remotely on the CR929 due to coronavirus threat
All off-line communications for the joint wide-body aircraft programme have been suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak
Engineers working on the joint Sino-Russian wide-body CR929 aircraft programme have suspended all off-line communications and will instead work remotely utilising on-line conference formats due to the on-going coronavirus threat, revealed Valery Okulov, councillor to general director of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), the Russian partner in the project.
He explained that after a two-week quarantine suspension of the Shanghai headquarters of the China-Russia Commercial Aircraft International Corporation (CRAIC), the colleagues have now resumed work remotely, and hope to eliminate the delay.
The wide-body, long-haul CR929 aircraft is a project being developed jointly by Russia’s UAC and China’s COMAC and is expected to enter service by 2027 to challenge the Airbus and Boeing duopoly currently dominating both the Russian and Chinese markets. The cost of the project is estimated at between US$13bn and $20bn.
The base version of the wide-body, long haul CR929 is designed to carry 280 passengers over distances up to 12,000 kilometres. The maiden flight is scheduled for 2023, with certification approvals between 2025 and 2027. UAC’s president Yury Slyusar has previously indicated that the programme has thus far attracted 200 ‘soft’ orders.
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