(Yicai Global) Dec. 10 -- Deliveries of the CRAIC CR929, an aircraft co-developed by China and Russia, should reach 1,000 between 2023 and 2045, according to the wide-body plane's chief designer.

The largest markets for the CR929 should be China, Russia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States, where sales of all wide-body aircraft models could reach 1,840 over the 12 years, or 18 percent of the global total, Chen Yingchun said during a summit in Hangzhou yesterday. The CIS includes many former parts of the Soviet Union such as Armenia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.

The Asia-Pacific is another important market for the CR929 as the demand for wide-body planes is expected to reach 2,670 units over the period, predicted Chen.

The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China and Russia's United Aircraft set up a Shanghai-based joint venture in May 2017 to design the CR929. The base model CR929-600 is benchmarked against the Boeing 787 with a basic range of 12,000 kilometers and 280 seats.

COMAC is promoting two other aircraft. The first narrow-body C919 is expected to be delivered in 2021 while tens of regional jetliner ARJ21s already fly routes in China.

Editor: Emmi Laine