国内英语新闻:China's homegrown C919 passenger jet starts development phase

SHANGHAI, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's homegrown C919 large passenger plane has finished its preliminary development review and entered the development phase, a senior executive of Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd. (COMAC) in Shanghai said Friday.

An expert team of the C919 project has approved the overall preliminary development review (PDR) of the passenger jet, said Jin Zhuanglong, president of the Shanghai-based COMAC.

It is expected that the manufacturing process for the components of the prototype will begin by the end of 2011.

COMAC signed a deal to sell 20 C919 large passenger planes to China Aircraft Leasing Company Limited (CALC) on Thursday.

Up to now, the users of C919 large passenger planes have reached 10 and total orders amount to 215 units.

COMAC said earlier it would develop both 168-seat and 156-seat models of the jet, with more models to be developed in the future.

It also said that test flights for the single-aisle C919 were scheduled for 2014, and delivery is slated for 2016.