The Russian-Chinese aircraft makes another step closer to reality

The mock-up of the Russian-Chinese widebody jet was for the first time demonstrated at Airshow China 2016 (Photo by transport-photo.com)

The board of directors of Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation approved establishment of a joint venture with Chinese planemaker COMAC, the company’s representative said. The new venture will be in charge of the joint program for development of the future widebody long-haul aircraft. Apart from design and production, it will be responsible for both sales and after-sale services.

The parties initially planned to create the joint enterprise by the end of 2016, however, the decision was put off till Q1 2017. The headquarters will be located in Shanghai and, according to the plan, China will do the assembly of the aircraft whereas engineering and designing works will be conducted in Russia.

The cooperation agreement between Russia and China on the development and production of a 280-seat wide-body jet dubbed as C929 was signed in June 2016. A scaled mock-up of the future airliner was for the first time displayed at Airshow China in Zhuhai, in November. Currently the parties are on the hunt for engine suppliers for the new aircraft.

The C929 deliveries are scheduled to commence in 2025-2027.