China’s home-grown C929 widebody passenger jet enters ‘crucial’ development stage amid Beijing’s aviation push – Technologist

China’s home-grown C929 widebody passenger jet has entered “a crucial stage” of its development process, according to its manufacturer, amid Beijing’s continuous efforts for a strong presence in the aviation industry.

“It’s a crucial stage in the development process, which indicates the overall technical scheme of the aircraft has been determined,” Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) marketing director Zhang Xiaoguang told a science and technology innovation conference in Shanghai on Tuesday.

It would then be followed by the design and manufacturing of systems and components, he added.

The update came amid ongoing speculation since last year that Russia had dropped out of its partnership with Comac to develop the widebody airliner, which was formerly known as the CR929.

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In 2017, Comac and Russian aerospace and defence company United Aircraft Corporation set up a joint venture in Shanghai to focus on building the CR929.

The C929 would have around 280-400 seats and a range of 12,000km (7,456 miles), according to Comac.

Li Dongsheng, Comac’s chief engineer of composite materials, told the Hangzhou-based Dushikuaibao newspaper last month that the C929 would incorporate more than 50 per cent carbon fibre composite materials and 15 per cent titanium alloy.

Li added that the proportion of titanium alloy marked a substantial leap beyond the roughly 10 per cent typically found in mainstream narrowbody aircraft, aligning with the standard of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350, and also higher than the 12 per cent in its C919 narrowbody passenger jet.

Chinese fuselage manufacturer Huarui Aerospace Manufacturing, which was selected by Comac in 2021 to build the body of the C929, said in a WeChat post on its official account last month that the first middle section would be delivered by September 2027.

Beijing has made the home-grown C919 the poster child for its entry into the aviation sector, and according to Zhang, the aircraft has surpassed a “milestone” after completing over 240,000km (149,130 miles) of test flights.

Comac has also delivered 128 of its smaller ARJ21 narrowbody regional aircraft, according to Zhang.

“[We will] actively reserve large-scale orders for large aircraft,” Comac’s deputy marketing director Liu Yan said on Monday, according to the company’s official social media account.

“[We will] coordinate the domestic and international markets in an orderly manner and secure a large number of customers and orders, laying a solid foundation for large-scale production, delivery and operation.”