Work begins on Sino-Russian widebody joint venture

摘要

In June, Chinese and Russian officials agreed to form a joint venture to collaborate on the development, production and after-sales support of a widebody airliner. In Comac's new office in Shanghai, a team has been working closely with Russia's United Aircraft (UAC) to detail the wide-body programme, which is slated to deliver an aircraft to enter service by 2027. UAC has been quite open about the planned collaboration. Comac, meanwhile, has been largely silent, leaving any announcements to the Chinese government. In July, however, it told FlightGlobal that both parties had decided on a 280-seat twinjet design with a 6,500nm (12,000km) range. The first flight is planned in 2022.