Thai firm to lease China-designed planes

Thai airline City Airways and Chinese aircraft leasing company ICBC Leasing are planning to purchase and lease 20 China-designed passenger planes, they said on Wednesday.

In a major vote of confidence in China's ambitious aircraft manufacturers, the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding with the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) on the sidelines of the Beijing Aviation Expo, according to a statement from the COMAC.

The orders will include 10 C919 aircraft and 10 ARJ21-700 aircraft.

Financial details were not disclosed.

The C919, a 150-seat jet designed for short-haul commercial use, is China's first large passenger aircraft.

The ARJ21-700 is smaller, with 78 to 90 seats and a designed economic life of 60,000 flying hours or 20 calendar years.

Earlier reports said China plans to roll the first C919 off the assembly line and run a test flight this year. The ARJ21-700, on the other hand, was officially certified by the Civil Aviation Administration of China at the end of last year.

City Airways board chairman Timothy Yan said the China-made jets will be deployed for domestic flights and routes to and from Thailand's neighboring countries.

The new deal will bring total orders of C919 and ARJ21-700 to 514 and over 300, said Tian Min, COMAC chief accountant. Endi