Word: jetted
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...comprise most of China's domestic fleet lack the power and lift to take off and land comfortably under certain conditions, especially in bad weather with a full load of passengers. So in 2002, the Beijing government came up with a surprising solution: China would build a small passenger jet so good that not only could it handle Bangda with ease, it would put the country on the map as a commercial aerospace manufacturer...
...Five years later, a prototype of the jet sits in a nondescript hangar 30 minutes north of Shanghai. Dubbed the Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century - the ARJ21 - the aircraft is the fruit of China's first solo commercial aircraft project in nearly 40 years, and it promises to be one of the world's most technologically sophisticated when it takes off for the first time in March 2008. Onboard are the most advanced avionics, propulsion and malfunction-monitoring systems available. With room for 90 passengers (up to 105 in a stretch version), "the ARJ21 will prove China...
...Commercial-jet manufacturing is a notoriously difficult business, yet China's boundless business ambition appears to be supported by promising markets. As worldwide air travel steadily increases, airlines will need to buy almost 29,000 planes worth $2.8 trillion over the next two decades, with nearly one-third of them destined for Asian carriers, according to Boeing, the No. 1 manufacturer of commercial jets. In China alone, domestic airlines could spend as much as $340 billion for 3,400 new aircraft - nearly quadrupling the current fleet of about 1,000 - by 2026. There's also booming demand for smaller...
...Stiff competition is likely to come from Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which is working toward the 2012 debut of a fuel-efficient regional jet, called the MRJ, that will be built from the same advanced composite materials Boeing is using in its upcoming 787 Dreamliner. (Mitsubishi is one of Boeing's key parts suppliers.) The Japanese government is helping to bankroll the company's comeback in commercial jets with a pledge to pay a third of the MRJ's reported $1 billion in development costs...
...then there's the little matter of getting the ARJ21 certified to fly not just in China but in other countries as well. Before it ever carries a passenger, the jet's safety will be vetted by Chinese officials and by those from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which has an office in Shanghai to monitor the project. Beyond Asia, ACAC hopes to sell the jet in the U.S. and Europe. It's not clear if the recent spate of quality issues faced by Chinese manufacturers of low-end products, such as toys and clothing, will ultimately hurt ACACs chances...