After years of delay, first Chinese Middle Currier finally certified

The C919 of the Chinese aircraft manufacturer Comac, a Middle Currier capable of boarding 158 passengers, has already recorded 815 orders in China, but the accumulated delays limit its prospects internationally.

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The accumulated delay has slightly tarnished the aura of the C919, the first medium-haul aircraft developed by China, but the device should finally accommodate passengers in 2023. The monocourobile of the Aircraft of China sales (comac ) received its certification on September 29.

At the end of July, the six aircraft used for these tests had carried out their Walk Elephant, a staged presentation to celebrate the end of test flights. But, for the company, this first stage of C919 certification, designed to transport 158 ​​passengers on 4,075 kilometers, comes too late to be a success.

This period of more than five years, between the inaugural flight and the possible marketing of the aircraft, confirms industrial difficulties that had leaked in the media in recent years. Meanwhile, Airbus has won major contracts in China. 2>

maintained on the ground several months

The date of certification owes nothing to chance: it was essential for this strategic project to collect the White Seing of the Administration before 20 e Congress of the Communist Party, which begins the October 16, and should in particular confirm President Xi Jinping at the head of the country for five more years.

In the aftermath of the event, the leaders of Comac also received the encouragement of the Chinese president, during an exhibition on the C919 presented at the Palais du Peuple, in Beijing. The development of this first major airline plane is “the country’s will, the country’s dream and the aspiration of the people,” said the Chinese leader, according to the China Nouvelle agency. “[The President] stressed the need to improve the development of large -scale commercial aircraft, to advance the establishment of a strong industrial nation and not to spare its efforts to make China a modern socialist country to All respects, and to realize the dream of the national Renaissance “, specifies the state agency.

During the launch of the project, in 2008, the aircraft manufacturer tapped a certification in 2014. An ambitious objective in a advanced field where China lacks experience. After a few years of design, the inaugural flight of the C919 finally took place with great fanfare in 2017.

But the Monocourloir was not at the end of its sorrows: as early as 2018, the prototypes were held on the ground for several months, to make significant modifications, in particular the strengthening of the engine and the nacelle (which welcomes the engine) , according to several media. Adjustments necessary because of calculation errors on the forces that would exercise on the aircraft, reported the Reuters agency, in 2020.

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/Media reports.