Sino-Russian relations to touch skies with joint aircraft development to challenge Airbus, Boeing
China and Russia on May 22 launched an ambitious project to jointly develop a long-haul jet to challenge Boeing and Airbus, just two weeks after the successful test flight of the first made-in-China large passenger plane. State-run Chinese manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) and Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) said they formally established the previously announced joint venture in Shanghai on May 22.
Plans for the wide-body jet were first unveiled last June when visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin met China’s Xi Jinping in Beijing, and Chinese state media have previously quoted officials saying the project could be worth between US $13 billion and US $20 billion.
Jin Zhuanglong COMAC chairman
“The establishment of the joint-venture company symbolises the important progress made in the China-Russia long-range wide-body passenger aircraft project. We will cooperate sincerely with UAC, unite as one, and strive to make the project a model of Sino-Russian cooperation.”
China had already logged a key milestone in the country’s ambitious journey to compete with the world’s leading aircraft makers in early May with the test flight in Shanghai of COMAC’s narrow-body C919 jet. The 168-seat C919, built for shorter regional routes, represents nearly a decade of effort in a …read more
