Airlines and aircraft lessors from China and abroad are approaching China's jumbo jet producer, eager to become the first user of this more economic and environment-friendly home-made passenger plane, a senior executive said yesterday.

The list of primary users of the C919, China's largest domestically produced jumbo jet, will be announced in the first half of next year, said Chen Jin, sales and marketing chief, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd (COMAC), at the Beijing International Aviation Summit.

Chen said airlines and aircraft leasing companies from both home and abroad had evinced interest in the jumbo jet. He, however, declined to reveal the company names.