The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China says the country's domestically-designed passenger plane, COMAC 919, is scheduled for trial flights from the end of 2014 to early 2015. The plane will be put into the market in 2016, competing with Airbus and Boeing.

The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China says the country's domestically-designed passenger plane, COMAC 919, is scheduled for trial flights from the end of 2014 to early 2015.

Senior executives of the company say China's big plane project is now going through a feasibility study, and is set to compete with major models in the international market, such as the Airbus A 320 and Boeing 737.

The plane will have 168 seats, and this number can be adjusted according to the requirements of airline companies. A maximum single flight for the new plane will be about 5,500 kilometers. A COMAC 919 plane can fly for about 30 years if it flies for eight hours each day.

(CCTV May 30, 2009)