China's new turboprop rolls off production line: official media

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

BEIJING (AFP) — China has unveiled a more advanced home-made turboprop aeroplane, moving a step closer to its ambitious goal of becoming one of the world's major propeller plane providers, state press said.

The 60-seat "Modern Ark 600" (MA600), comparable to versions from Canada's Bombardier and France's ATR, was launched on Sunday, with deliveries to customers expected to start next year, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The new aircraft is lighter than the first and only model of the MA series now on the market, the 50-60 seat MA60, which has received 122 orders since 2005, mainly from African and Southeast Asian countries, it said.

Producer China Aviation Industry Corp. I (AVIC I) has already started developing the 70-seat MA700 as it seeks to break into...