The MA700 turboprop is now due to fly in 2018, a year later than previously planned, AVIC said, forecasting deliveries no earlier than 2020.
The state-owned company is prepared to market the 78-seat aircraft on the basis of only a Chinese airworthiness certificate if, because of regulatory obstacles, it is unable to get FAA validation of the certification.
The MA700 is still in the detail design phase, an AVIC representative said. That phase was supposed to end in 2015, though there was an acknowledged chance that it could extend to into 2016. Describing the new schedule to Aviation Daily in an interview ahead of Airshow China, to be held Nov. 1-6 here, the representative did not disclose reasons for the delay.
Industry sources told Aviation Daily that the MA700 schedule had slipped in September. An AVIC unit in the program delivered a major engineering manufacturing sample, a nonflyable rear fuselage, in September. The timing was rather late for a program that was supposed to execute its first flight in 2017.
The MA700 will be powered by the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150C engine, a new powerplant that AVIC expects to give it an advantage in the market. Low production costs are intended to be another advantage.
The big prospective disadvantage is lack of Western validation of the airworthiness certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), by either the FAA or the European Aviation Safety Agency. Many countries, especially those with advanced economies, insist on certification or validation by the FAA, EASA other highly regarded agencies.
AVIC can sell the aircraft despite that, because the CAAC airworthiness requirements are even higher than the FAA's, the representative said. The FAA is working with the CAAC toward recognizing the Chinese agency's competence, but the regulatory program has been delayed.
AVIC's current production turboprop is the Y-7, based on the Antonov An-24 and now marketed in two versions called MA60 and MA600. The most valuable experience AVIC has gained from the MA60 and MA600 has been learning to work with customer airlines, the representative said. Other AVIC officials have, from time to time, said the company needed a stronger customer focus.
