Design of C919's engine completed

The design stage of the engine for the C919 - China's first locally produced commercial aircraft - has been completed and the engine will start to be produced soon, the engine's manufacturer said on on Tuesday.

The Leap 1C engine, manufactured by CFM International, will be the initial engine of the airplane, which is expected to have its debut flight in June 2014, said Chaker Chahrour, executive vice-president of CFM, a joint venture between General Electric and Snecma.

Meanwhile, AVIC Commercial Aircraft Engine Co Ltd is also working on an engine for the C919. At a later stage buyers of the airplane will be able to choose which engine they want installed on the planes.

Chahrour said that CFM does not worry about the competition from other manufacturers.

CFM already has about 3,600 orders for its engine now, including 470 orders from China.

The company will also supply different models of the Leap engine to the new single-aisle aircrafts of Airbus SAS and Boeing Co.

"The three models of the Leap engine are basically similar," said Chahrour.

In order to meet consumer demand, CFM will continue to improve its production rate, which will be about 1,500 engines this year.

wangwen@chinadaily.com.cn