Comac has won commitments for an additional 57 of its C919 narrowbodies, bringing the total for the in-development jet past the 500 mark, as the Chinese airframer works towards a roll-out this year.
Additionally, seven has been added to the number of ARJ21 regional jets for which Comac has secured commitments.
In a signing ceremony at the Paris air show, Ping An Leasing inked a letter of intent for 50 C919s, becoming one of Comac's largest customers.
The Shanghai-based Chinese lessor, set up in 2012, was last year in the running for the purchase of AWAS's 100-aircraft portfolio.
At the same event, Chinese investor Puren Group signed for seven C919s and seven ARJ21s. The aircraft are for start-up Puren Airlines.
Puren Group acquired Lubeck airport in Germany last year and plans to start Puren Airlines in order to develop connections from the gateway. Work is under way towards securing an air operator's certificate.
The new deals bring the total number of commitments for the C919 to 507, and those of the ARJ21 to 315.
Comac tells Flightglobal it is working towards rolling out its first C919 prototype in September, and that the first flight of the aircraft, originally scheduled for end-2015, has been pushed to next year.
Final assembly of the C919 airframe has been completed and system installations have also started.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
