ARJ21 Delayed Again, Due To Enter Service In April-May 2015

The Comac ARJ21 regional jet project has been delayed again, with the aircraft now due to go into service in April or May 2015, eight years later than scheduled early in the program and 13 years after development began.

The first operator, Comac subsidiary Chengdu Airlines, will receive its first unit from the manufacturer late this year or early next year, says the carrier’s deputy general manager, Luo Ning. After that, further preparations will be made before operations begin in April or May, Luo tells local media.

The ARJ21 has been delayed probably more times than even Comac can count. As recently as August last year the first delivery was due in June 2014. When full-scale development began in April 2002, the first delivery was due in 2006, although within weeks that target had been shifted to 2007.

Among the more recent problems, unexpectedly high landing weight forced redesign of the landing gear by supplier Liebherr. Before that, the ARJ21’s mainplane failed its ultimate load test and needed redesign.


Aviation Week

Boeing, COMAC Sign Collaboration Agreement to Partner in Areas Adavncing Commercial Aviation Industry Growth

• Boeing and COMAC Create Aviation Energy Conservation and Emissions Reductions Technology Center in Beijing
• Aircraft Manufacturers Strengthen Ties with Leadership Meetings, Exchange of Commercial Aviation Market Forecasts

BEIJING, March 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) and Boeing (NYSE: BA) today announced a collaboration agreement to partner in areas that will enable commercial aviation industry growth in China and potentially around the world. This is the first collaboration agreement between COMAC, which is building the new C919 jet and ARJ21 regional jet, and Boeing, which this year celebrates its 40th anniversary of providing commercial aircraft and services to China's aviation industry.

As part of the agreement, the two companies will create the Boeing-COMAC Aviation Energy Conservation and Emissions Reductions Technology Center in Beijing. Funded by both companies, the Boeing-COMAC Center will support research projects to increase commercial aviation's fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The aircraft manufacturers also agreed to have annual leadership engagements and exchange commercial aviation market forecasts.

A signing ceremony in Beijing was attended by COMAC Chairman Jin Zhuanglong, COMAC President He Dongfeng and Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Jim Albaugh.
"Through this collaboration agreement, Boeing and COMAC will build our relationship and will further sustainable growth and fuel efficiency for China's fast-growing aviation market," said Albaugh. "Our new Technology Center shows that two companies in a competitive industry can partner to make progress on important challenges that cannot be solved by one company alone. That is good for customers and passengers, and it's the right thing to do."

The Boeing-COMAC Aviation Energy Conservation and Emissions Reductions Technology Center will be located at COMAC's Beijing Civil Aircraft Technology Research Center. The companies will collaborate with China-based universities and research institutions to expand knowledge of technologies – such as sustainable aviation biofuels, aviation connectivity infrastructure and other areas – that improve commercial aviation's energy efficiency or reduce the industry's carbon emissions. The companies will jointly select and fund each research project.

"This milestone agreement between Boeing and COMAC follows four decades of Boeing partnership with airlines, government agencies, suppliers and research institutions to support the development of China's aviation industry," said Marc Allen, President of Boeing China. "Our hope is that innovative emissions-reduction technologies developed through the Boeing-COMAC Center will advance aviation in China and around the world."

China is one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets. The Civil Aviation Administration of China has forecast that passenger traffic in China will surpass 300 million this year and will reach 1.5 billion passengers in 2030. Boeing has estimated that Chinese airlines will need to buy 5,000 new airplanes by 2030 to meet this extraordinary demand.

Boeing Media 

Suggested posted related topics on Bio-Fuels, Green Initiatives, click below

Lufthansa A321 passenger flights demonstrate the practicality of bio-fuels 

TaxiBot set to usher in a new era of airport taxiing

Airlines turn to alcohol as potential jet fuel replacement