China's homegrown ARJ21 puts off 1st flight to Sep or Oct

The first flight of the Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century ( ARJ21), the first Chinese homegrown regional jet, will be delayed to September or October, as some key systems have failed to be delivered in time, according to an AVIC Commercial Aircraft Co. Ltd spokesman last Friday.

The ARJ21, "Xiang Feng", was initially expected to make its first flight this month, with its first delivery scheduled for the third quarter of 2009 after it received its airworthiness certification in the first half of 2009. It will get certified after passing over 170 tests.

As the AVIC ARJ21 is well known for its low price and safety, the Commercial Aircraft Co. Ltd has gained orders for 181 Xiang Feng aircrafts as of last Friday, according to the spokesman.

Besides, the company has recently inked a memorandum of understanding with GE Capital Aviation Services for a order of five ARJ21-700 jets.

The first ARJ21-700 jet was powered by a turbofan engine, with a maximum range of 2,000 nautical miles.