China-Russia Commercial Aircraft International Corporation, Ltd. (CRAIC) held a China-Russia Long Range Wide Body Commercial Aircraft Naming & CRAIC LOGO Presentation on September 29th, 2017 and announced that China-Russia long range wide body commercial aircraft is officially named as CR929.

At the same time, the serial numbers CR929-500/600/700 of the aircraft are issued to represent the shortened version, the basic version and the extended version of the aircraft respectively. This is another important milestone after the joint venture's listing in Shanghai in May 2017, indicating the entry into substantial phase of the research and development of the China-Russia Long Range Wide Body Commercial Aircraft (LRWBCA) program.

Mr. Xin Guobin, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), Mr. He Dongfeng, Chairman and Secretary of the Party Committee of Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC), Mr. Bocharov, Vice Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia, and Mr. Yury Slyusar, President of United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), attended the presentation and made a speech respectively. Mr. Zhang Yanzhong, Chairman of Advisory Committee on Large Aircraft Projects of the State Council and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Mr. Evsikov Aleksei, Russian Consul General in Shanghai, Mr. Li Dong, Director General of Equipment Industry Department of MIIT, Mr. Xu Chaoqun, Director General of Department of Aircraft Airworthiness Certification of Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), Mr. Jiang Huaiyu, Director of CAAC East China Regional Administration, and COMAC leaders Mr. Liu Linzong, Mr. Shi Jianzhong, Mr. Wu Guanghui, Mr. Zhao Yuerang and Mr. Zhao Jiufang attended the presentation.

Mr. Xin Guobin expressed that LRWBCA program was a major strategic cooperation program which had been highly concerned by senior leaders of the two countries. The companies of both countries had cooperated closely, and the operation of the joint venture was progressing steadily in an orderly manner. Naming of wide body commercial aircraft and presentation of CRAIC LOGO showed the firm confidence of China and Russia in civil aviation cooperation and added a new color to the China-Russia comprehensive strategic cooperation partnership with actual deeds. He emphasized that MIIT would continue to do its best to support CR929 program as always. He hoped that both sides could continue to work hard, develop practical cooperation, give full play to their advantages, open to utilizing global resources, develop a wide body commercial aircraft with international competitiveness, and strive to make the program a successful model of China-Russian cooperation in high-end equipment manufacturing industry.

Mr. Bocharov extended thanks for the efforts made by the companies of both countries on CR929 program. He said that UAC and COMAC had done a lot of work to build a long range wide body commercial aircraft with international competitiveness. He hoped that both sides could make full use of the experience of both countries in economic development, modern technological innovation and civil aircraft development to push forward CR929 program, promote the development of aviation industry in both countries and promote the development of bilateral relations.

Mr. He Dongfeng expressed that global civil aircraft industry would meet great strategic opportunities for development in the next two decades, and COMAC would cooperate sincerely and march forward hand in hand with UAC to provide full support for the operation of CRAIC and the research and development of CR929. Both sides would work hard to build CR929 into a more competitive new-type long range wide body commercial aircraft with the strong support of the governments of China and Russia in order to bring more opportunities to global suppliers and make greater contributions to the development of global aviation industry.

Mr. Yury Slyusar extended sincere gratitude to the governments of both countries and all walks of life for their concern about and support to CR929 program. He said that the name of the wide body commercial aircraft and the LOGO of CRAIC fully embodied the characteristics of China and Russia. UAC and COMAC had made full consultation and active coordination in the early stage of the research and development of the program, and the program had made important progress. CR929 program is of great significance and responsibility, and UAC would work together with COMAC to firmly advance the development of the program.

In the name CR929, C and R are the initials of China and Russia respectively, which represent that the wide body commercial aircraft is an advanced commercial aircraft developed by the companies of both countries. The digit "9" in "929" is the largest numeral, which means "forever" and represents that the cooperation between both sides will be far-reaching and last forever; it also represents that the aircraft will have longer service life and operation period, and the joint venture will grow stronger. The digit "2" means that the aircraft is jointly developed by the two companies of both countries.

The LOGO of CRAIC represents that both sides of the joint venture will cooperate sincerely and make progress hand in hand. Wings can provide lift for aircraft, implying that the joint venture will become more prosperous every day. Red is the main color of Chinese national flag and a color in the LOGO of UAC, which represents passion, initiative and innovation. Blue is the main color of Russian national flag and a color in the LOGO of COMAC, which represents blue sky, dream and eternalness. The combination of red and blue symbolizes the cooperation of the two countries in civil aircraft industry. The name of the wide body commercial aircraft and the LOGO of CRAIC will be widely used during the aircraft airworthiness certification, market promotion, engineering development and whole life cycle management of the program.

The China-Russian long range wide body commercial aircraft is a major strategic cooperation program between the companies of both countries in high-tech field. With the witness of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin, COMAC signed a joint venture contract with UAC on June 25th, 2016. China-Russia Commercial Aircraft International Corporation, Ltd (CRAIC), a joint venture of COMAC and UAC, was established in Shanghai on May 22nd, 2017. As the main vehicle for implementing the China-Russia Long Range Wide Body Commercial Aircraft Program, CRAIC is mainly responsible for the planning, organization, coordination, management and implementation of program research and development, the technology integration of the whole aircraft and the whole life cycle management of products. Since the establishment of CRAIC, both teams have cooperated more closely, carried out several rounds of joint work, and advanced the research and development of the program effectively. At present, both teams are working on feasibility study of the program (G2 phase). The joint review of G2 phase is expected to be completed and Power Plant RFP will be issued by the end of the year.

The China-Russian long range wide body commercial aircraft has a cabin layout with dual aisles. CR929-600 has a range of 12,000 km, with seats for 280 passengers. By using advanced aerodynamic design, large quantities of composite materials and a new generation of high bypass ratio turbofan engines to improve the overall performance, the wide body commercial aircraft will have a lower direct operating cost than that of aircraft of the same model. The wide body commercial aircraft will be developed in accordance with international mainstream airworthiness standards. According to development experience, it is expected to take about 7 years from launching the program to achieving first flight, and about 10 years to realizing product delivery.

The aircraft naming and LOGO presentation held in Shanghai is another important milestone in the cooperation of LRWBCA program, indicating that the cooperation between the companies of both countries are further deepened. Naming of China-Russia long range wide body commercial aircraft and presentation of CRAIC LOGO will be beneficial to further gathering superior resources, expanding potential market, and laying a solid foundation for the introduction of a competitive wide body commercial aircraft.