Engineering and design firm Alliance Aircraft, led by former Fairchild Dornier executive Earl Robinson, has teamed with China’s Mei Li Xing Hang Industrial to bring to market a twinjet 50-seat regional airliner and later a corporate variant. The companies have launched a joint venture, Chongqing Commercial Aircraft (CCAC), to develop the StarLiner 100.

Unveiled during last week’s EBACE, the mostly composite StarLiner would be powered by 9,000-pound-class turbofans that will provide the airliner version with a 2,000-nm range at Mach 0.80 or a corporate version with a 4,000-nm range. Both versions will be certified to FL410. Plans call to focus first on the regional variant, with entry into service in 2018 or 2019. The corporate variant would follow in 2020. The 50-passenger aircraft will be designed to replace the first generation of 50-seat regional jets, company executives said.

The company executives said they have lined up $81 million in initial capital and expect to raise up to $800 million for the project. The company currently is evaluating both engines and avionics for the new aircraft. Assembly and the flight-test and certification programs will take place in Chongqing, China.