The first full-sized airliner to be produced by a Chinese company made an hour-long maiden flight earlier today over Shanghai. With a maximum seating capacity of 190 passengers, it is intended to be a competitor to (read: copy of) the 737 and A320 families. Per the article, the C919 is "years, even decades" behind its Western competitors, but China may require its state-controlled airline industry to buy the jet anyway. Further reading:… (nytimes.com) 更多...
Correction: the flight happened Friday, not today. Also, the "further reading" link isn't showing. It's an article going into some more depth on the C919's development. Here: The first full-sized airliner to be produced by a Chinese company made its maiden flight earlier today over Shanghai. With a maximum seating capacity of 190 passengers, it is intended to be a competitor to (read: copy of) the 737 and A320 families. Per the article, the C919 is "years, even decades" behind its Western competitors, but it may require its state-controlled airline industry to buy it anyway. Further reading: http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2017-01-17/chinas-comac-c919-edges-toward-first-flight
Further reading:
http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2017-01-17/chinas-comac-c919-edges-toward-first-flight