China's Comac gets orders for 100 C919 jets

[News_Editor]

China's Comac gets orders for 100 C919 jets

2010-11-16 20:51:27 GMT+7 (ICT)

BEIJING (BNO NEWS) -- Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (Comac) on Tuesday said it finalized orders for 100 150-seat C919 jets on the sidelines of the Airshow China 2010.

According to Comac, the company reached agreements with Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, CDB Leasing and GE Capital Aviation Services.

The new orders "lay a solid foundation for further development of the C919," Comac Chairman Zhang Qingwei said.

The Comac C919 is designed to compete against the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320.

According to estimates by Boeing, China is expected to become the world's number two plane market as it will require 4,330 new commercial airplanes valued at $480 billion over the 20 years.

According to Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing for Boeing's commercial aircraft division, the Chincago-based company may redesign the 737 to compete with the C919 but a decision on whether to build a new 737 or update the plane with new engines is not near to be taken.

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