China’s home-grown C929 widebody passenger jet enters ‘crucial’ development stage amid Beijing’s aviation push

China’s home-grown C929 widebody passenger jet has entered “a crucial stage” of its development process, according to its manufacturer, amid Beijing’s continuous efforts for a strong presence in the aviation industry.

“It’s a crucial stage in the development process, which indicates the overall technical scheme of the aircraft has been determined,” Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) marketing director Zhang Xiaoguang told a science and technology innovation conference in Shanghai on Tuesday.

It would then be followed by the design and manufacturing of systems and components, he added.

The update came amid ongoing speculation since last year that Russia had dropped out of its partnership with COMAC to develop the widebody airliner, which was formerly known as the CR929.

In 2017, COMAC and Russian aerospace and defence company United Aircraft Corporation set up a joint venture in Shanghai to focus on building the CR929.

China and Russia said in December that they would “actively promote cooperation projects in the joint development of long-range widebody passenger aircraft and heavy helicopters”, without specifying the exact projects or companies involved.

The C929 would have around 280-400 seats and a range of 12,000km, according to COMAC.

Li Dongsheng, COMAC’s chief engineer of composite materials, told the Hangzhou-based Dushikuaibao newspaper last month that the C929 would incorporate more than 50 per cent carbon fibre composite materials and 15 per cent titanium alloy.

Li added that the proportion of titanium alloy marked a substantial leap beyond the roughly 10 per cent typically found in mainstream narrowbody aircraft, aligning with the standard of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350, and also higher than the 12 per cent in its C919 narrowbody passenger jet.