More Homegrown Civil Planes to Start Flight in 2020

The skies over China are becoming more dynamic as the domestic air transport industry takes off and the country boosts its capacity for developing civil aircraft.

In 2020， China will embrace more domestically developed civil airplane models in its effort to develop two trunk airliner and two regional airplane models， namely the C919 narrow-body and the CR929 wide-body jetliners， as well as the ARJ21 regional jet and Modern Ark series turboprop aircraft.

As the worlds second largest civil aviation market， China continues to generate power from independent development and contribute to the world with a booming market.

Chinas MA700 aircraft is set to take to the sky in 2020， becoming the third member of the domestically developed Modern Ark regional turboprop family， according to its developer AVIC XAC Commercial Aircraft Co. Ltd. based in Xian， Shaanxi Province in northwest China.

Work for both the maiden flight and static tests are underway， said the Aviation Industry Corp. of China （AVIC）， adding that the fi rst MA700 airplane is scheduled to roll off the production line in mid-2020.

The 70-seater model highlights short- and medium-haul market performance， with an aim to serve the countrys booming air traffic demand.

The Modern Ark series has two existing members， the MA60 and MA600， with a total of 109 airplanes delivered to customers to date.

As an upgraded version， the MA700 will be capable of serving operators in complex environments， such as Chinas vast western regions with extreme temperatures， plateaus and mountains.

The ARJ21， Chinas first turbo-fan regional passenger jetliner， is also the countrys first domestically developed jet to have completed design， manufacturing， ground tests， fl ight tests， batch production， delivery and commercial operation.

The aircraft went into commercial service in June 2016， and has carried a total of 690，000 passengers on 37 air routes. In January， it won the State Scientifi c and Technological Progress Award， which is among Chinas top science and technology awards.

In addition， on October 26， 2019， the ARJ21 started the fi rst international service between the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin， Heilongjiang Province， and Vladivostok in Russias Far East. According to the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China （COMAC）， it currently links 38 cities in China and abroad.