"Flying Phoenix" ARJ-21 Debuts In Flashy Ceremony

In a rollicking ceremony complete with laser light shows and rousing music, China's first home-designed-and-built commercial airliner made its formal entrance into the world Friday.

Taking a page from the PR playbooks of Boeing and Airbus, the ARJ-21 -- dubbed the Xiangfeng, or "Flying Phoenix" -- was towed into a Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory hangar in an carefully-orchestrated rollout ceremony. The event was broadcast by the state-run China Central Television network, reports the Associated Press... but that and the official Xinhua News Agency comprised the only media presence at the rollout.

The 90-seat ARJ-21 -- designed to compete with the likes of Bombardier and Embraer in the hotly-contested regional jet market -- is scheduled to make its first flight in March 2008. The aircraft -- which bears more than a passing resemblance to a Douglas DC-9, but sports modern avionics and GE Aviation turbofans -- is the first in a planned series of larger airliners, intended to be marketed worldwide.

"Today, China's aviation industry has turned over a new leaf," said Lin Zuoming, general manager of China Aviation Industry Corp. I (AVIC I.) "A country's aviation industry is not complete unless it is able to produce civilian aircraft."

AVIC-I expects as the ARJ-21 to dominate China's regional jet market over the next 20 years, with as much as 60 percent of the estimated 900-plane market. The company also hopes for worldwide interest in the plane, and is working with the FAA to develop certification standards.

FMI: www.avic1.com.cn/English/EnglishIndex.asp