AG600 amphibious aircraft makes first flight

After making its first flight on 26 December, the Aviation Industry of China’s four-engined AG600 amphibious aircraft undertook a 73min flight on 24 January, “successfully finishing all tests” planned for the mission according to the China Daily.

It took off from Zhuhai airport, adjacent to the China Aviation Industry General Aircraft production facility, where it was built (CAIGA is a division of AVIC).

With a maximum take-off weight of 53.5 tonnes, the AG600 is the world’s largest amphibious aircraft, even bigger than the Shinmaywa US-2 (43 tonnes). CAIGA says it has 17 orders for the AG600, all from domestic customers.