SHANGHAI: China has completed the production of its first passenger plane rolled off the assembly line on Monday as the Asian giant seeks to develop its own aviation sector.
The C919, a narrow body aircraft which has a capacity of 168 passengers, has been under production at a factory in commercial hub Shanghai for over a year, as workers assembled components under the guidance of Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC).
“The roll out of the first C919 aircraft marks a significant milestone in the development of China’s first indigenous aircraft,” COMAC chairman Jin Zhuanglong told an audience of government and industry officials.
A small truck towed the 39-metre long plane — painted white with a green tail — out of a cavernous building decorated with an enormous Chinese flag into the sunlight as project workers marched alongside, a news agency journalist saw.
But the aircraft, which has a range of up to 5,555 kilometres (3,444 miles), will not make its first test flight this year as originally scheduled, Jin said, with the maiden voyage planned for 2016.
The China Daily newspaper has reported it could even be put back to 2017.
