Homegrown amphibious light sport aircraft takes maiden flight

An amphibious light sport aircraft independently designed and manufactured by a Chinese company made its debut flight in Shanghai Pudong New Area's Dishui Lake on Tuesday, and it took only eight years for the aircraft to become operational from initial plans.

The two-seat aircraft has a price of 2.3 million yuan ($347,000), and its maker Shanghai Oxai Aircraft has already received 75 orders worth nearly 200 million yuan from global clients, including those based in the United States, Australia, Finland and Canada.

According to Mao Yiqing, president of Shanghai Oxai Aircraft, mass production of the aircraft model is expected to kick off next year after receiving airworthiness approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the regulatory authority.

As Mao noted, the company's existing annual capacity of 15 aircraft can hardly meet rising demand, so there are plans to expand the manufacturing capacity to 50 and also to launch new models in the future.