(Yicai) Nov. 13 -- Hainan Airlines is among a number of Chinese airlines that put in orders for aircraft developed by Chinese airplane manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China at the ongoing China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition. And Air China is the first carrier to place a pre-order for its C929 aircraft that is still under development.

Hainan Airlines is buying 60 C919 large passenger planes for its unit Suparna Airlines, according to the deal penned with Shanghai-based COMAC at the air show, which kicked off in Zhuhai yesterday. Deliveries could start as soon as this year.

Another Hainan Airlines subsidiary, Urumqi Air, has ordered 30 of the smaller C909 aircraft, formerly known as the ARJ21 regional jet, and Colourful Guizhou Airlines is purchasing 40 C909s.

And Air China will be the world’s first carrier to operate the C929 wide-body aircraft that can seat 280 passengers and has a range of 12,000 kilometers, according to the deal signed with COMAC. The C929 is currently still in the design phase.

COMAC recently renamed its ARJ21 regional jet as the C909 to form a C series of domestically made aircraft.

The influx of orders means that COMAC will need to hike output. A second assembly line for the C919, with an area of 330,000 square meters, is in the planning and will be located in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area, according to the China Aviation Planning and Design Institute.

The size of China’s civil aviation fleet is expected to account for 20.6 percent of global passenger aircraft by 2043 at 10,061 planes, according to a report released by COMAC yesterday, which is based on a forecast that the global economy will maintain an average growth rate of around 2.5 percent. China is expected to become the world’s largest single air transportation market.

Editor: Kim Taylor