China's first home-made big passenger plane rolled off line

C919, China's first homemade large passenger aircraft, was rolled out of the final assembly line in Shanghai  on Monday.

The plane designed to have 158 seats and a standard flight range of 4,075 km was developed by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC).

The C919 aircraft will make its maiden flight next year and then begin test flights for about three years before putting into commercial use. COMAC said it has won 517 orders from 21 customers home and abroad for the aircraft.

The C919 forms part of China's long-term goal to break Airbus and Boeing's duopoly, and is intended to compete against Airbus A320, Boeing 737 and Irkut MC-21. As a long term plan the twin‑engine, twin aisle C929 and C939 are proposed, offering 300 and 400 seats, respectively.

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