The fifth prototype of China's large passenger airliner C919 takes off from Shanghai Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, east China, Oct. 24, 2019. The fifth prototype of China's large passenger airliner C919 completed its maiden flight at an airport in Shanghai on Thursday morning. (Xinhua)

 
The development of the C919 narrow-body twinjet airliner is progressing as planned and in an orderly manner, said Wu Guanghui, National People's Congress (NPC) deputy and chief designer of the aircraft, on Tuesday.

Chinese aerospace manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) has to date received 815 orders for the C919 from 28 domestic and foreign airlines.

A total of six C919 aircraft entered flight test and certification phases last year, with testing proceeding well in Shanghai, Xi'an, Dongying and Nanchang, Wu said.

COMAC has already delivered 25 ARJ21 regional jet aircraft to customers including Chengdu Airlines, Tianjiao Airlines and Jiangxi Airlines. The three airlines have opened 50 routes to 50 cities and completed more than 830,000 passenger trips.

Wu revealed that the CR929 plane is now in its preliminary design phase. The long-range wide-body aircraft was jointly developed by COMAC and Russia's United Aircraft Corporation. It has a basic range of 12,000 kilometers, three cabins and 280 seats.