There is a huge domestic demand for the China-produced Y-20 heavy lift aircraft.

This, according to Zhu Qian, head of Aviation Industry Corp (AVIC) of China's Large Aircraft Development Office, who anticipates that the country will need at least 1,000 units of the massive transport plane, China Daily reported.

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"I can't tell you the exact time planned for delivery, but ... it will be carried out very soon," Zhu disclosed during the sidelines of a technology exhibition held in Beijing.

"More than 1,000 Y-20s will be needed," he added, explaining that China's growing demand for such carriers is based on the experience of United States and Russia who have been using heavy-lift transport carriers for years.

The airline official pointed out that the China's military and civilian sectors will be among those who will significantly benefit from the use of the heavy lift aircraft.

Although the plane's engines will be outsourced from foreign suppliers, he said that it will not be long before it will be outfitted with domestically-manufactured engines.  

Zhu likewise revealed China's plans of developing aircraft that are larger than the Y-20 and comparable to the US' Lockheed C-5 Galaxy and the Russia-designed Antonov An-225 Mriya.

Wang Ya'nan, deputy editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, reported that prototypes of the Y-20 have undergone all scheduled tests and that AVIC will already begin the plane's mass-production.

"Once the Y-20 joins the military, it will enable the Air Force to move closer to its goal of building a strategic air power," Wang said.

After the Y-20's successful maiden flight in January 2013, China became the third nation in the world - next to the US and Russia - that are capable of producing strategic transport aircraft.

According to military sources, the Y-20 can carry a maximum payload of 66 metric tons, and has a maximum takeoff weight of more than 200 tons.

The high payload of the China-made heavy lift aircraft will enable it to carry the PLA's heaviest tank, the 58-ton Type-99A2.

Tagschina, China Heavy Lift Aircraft, Aviation Industry Corp