Key Takeaways
• The AG600 received type certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China on April 21, 2025.
• Engineers conducted over 10,000 tests to ensure AG600’s amphibious performance for tough environments.
• The AG600 enables rapid wildfire response, maritime rescue, and supply deliveries to remote islands.
China recently took a big step forward in its civil aviation sector. The AG600, also known by its nickname “Kunlong,” has now received formal approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China. This stamp of approval, called a type certificate, officially confirms the aircraft’s design and safety under China’s civil aviation rules. With this important certificate granted on April 21, 2025, the AG600 is ready to join the market, marking a key milestone for both the aircraft and China’s growing aviation industry.
What is the AG600 and Why Does It Matter?
The AG600 is currently the world’s largest amphibious aircraft in production. Being “amphibious” simply means it can take off and land from both land and water. Developed by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, or AVIC, the AG600 offers a unique blend of features that make it stand out. With a maximum takeoff weight of 60 tonnes, it is specifically built to operate in tough and varied environments—including open water, rough coastlines, forests, and mountains.
This aircraft isn’t just another big plane. It was made with a clear purpose: to help with major civil tasks like fighting forest fires, monitoring the seas, rescuing people in danger, and delivering supplies to far-off islands. These roles are vital for a country as large and diverse as China, and only a handful of aircraft anywhere in the world are up to the task.
How Was the AG600 Designed?
One of the things that makes the AG600 special is the amount of detailed work that went into getting the design right. Because it needs to operate smoothly from both runways and open water, making the AG600 posed big technical challenges. Engineers faced a key problem: what works in the air doesn’t always work in water, and vice versa.
To solve this, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China put together a highly skilled team of experts. They carried out more than 10,000 separate experiments, running tests in both wind tunnels and hydrodynamic tanks. These experiments helped them balance competing needs—like how to allow the aircraft to take off smoothly from both a wet surface and a normal airport runway.
Here are some of the special design features born out of this hard work:
- Stepped hull design: The part of the plane that sits in water has “steps” built into it. This helps it lift off from lakes and seas quickly.
- Boat-like fuselage: The lower body of the plane has a shape similar to a speedboat, making it very stable and smooth in water.
- Wingtip floats: Small floats at the end of the plane’s wings help keep it steady on water—almost like pontoons on a seaplane.
- Wave-suppression grooves: Extra grooves on the hull help the AG600 handle choppy water, so it doesn’t get tossed around during takeoff or landing.
All these elements work together to let the AG600 perform well on both land and water, which is no small feat.
What Can the AG600 Do?
The AG600 was built for important missions that only a few aircraft in the world could handle. Here’s how it’s expected to help:
Forest fire suppression
One of the biggest threats to forests across China is wildfire. The AG600 can scoop an impressive amount of water—directly from a lake or sea—in just 20 seconds. Once loaded, it can quickly fly over a burning forest and drop a massive payload to help put out fires. This speed and scale is a big step up from most current firefighting planes, which are smaller and can’t carry as much water at once.
Maritime patrol
China has an immense coastline that needs regular patrols—both for safety and for protecting resources. Because the AG600 can land on both water and land, it’s perfect for reaching remote coastal spots or reacting quickly to emergencies at sea.
Search and rescue
Often, the key to saving lives in a disaster is getting help there fast. The AG600’s roomy fuselage means it can carry plenty of emergency workers and medical gear. It can move fast, cover long distances, and arrive directly at hard-to-reach places, such as islands or isolated coastal areas.
Supplying islands
For many small islands off the coast of China, supply chains can be difficult, especially in rough weather or during emergencies. The AG600 can deliver food, medicine, and other vital goods right where they’re needed, landing directly on water if necessary.
Emergency response
As China builds up its national emergency rescue and disaster response system, the AG600 will be a key tool. Whether the disaster is fire, flood, typhoon, or earthquake, having a plane this versatile in the country’s toolbox will make a big difference.
The Certification Process: A Major Hurdle Overcome
Getting a new plane certified for use is never easy. According to Huang Lingcai, the chief designer of the AG600 series, the process of getting approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China took years of hard work and careful checks. The CAAC is the top body in China for making sure civil aircraft meet strict safety and quality standards. Only after passing all these checks could the AG600 be cleared for sale and operations.
Not every aircraft gets through this process, and the standards used are very high. Tests covered everything from the way the plane handles in strong winds, to its ability to carry heavy loads, to how it performs repeated takeoffs and landings—both on water and land. The fact that the AG600 now holds a type certificate is strong evidence that it’s safe, stable, and ready for real-world use.
For those interested in learning more about the certification, the Civil Aviation Administration of China’s official page offers detailed and up-to-date information about the process and standards required.
Recent Flight Tests Show the AG600 Is Ready
Shortly after receiving its certificate, the AG600 passed another important test. On May 11, 2025, it finished a series of crosswind flight tests. In these tests, the plane had to land and take off while heavy winds blew across the runway or water surface. It’s a tricky setup, but a vital one—since real emergencies can happen in bad weather. Completing these tests shows that the AG600 can be trusted to work during tough situations, not just under perfect weather.
Every successful trial like this moves the AG600 closer to being widely used in China’s emergency and rescue services. It also makes the aircraft more attractive to possible buyers both inside and outside China, who may be looking for this kind of capability.
Designed for China, But With Global Ambitions
China’s geography presents special challenges that helped shape the AG600. Dense forests, steep mountains, and long coastlines mean emergencies can happen anywhere, and help has to arrive fast to make a real difference. The designers at Aviation Industry Corporation of China paid close attention to these challenges when developing the plane.
But the AG600 isn’t just for China. With its new certification, it can now be offered to other countries that face similar needs—such as large coastal nations or those with many islands. This opens up new markets for AVIC and demonstrates China’s growing ability to build and export high-tech aircraft that are on par with those made elsewhere.
As reported by VisaVerge.com, this accomplishment may also help strengthen China’s international position in the competitive world of aviation, where only a few nations have experience in making this sort of specialized aircraft.
Impact on Immigration and Labor
The launch of the AG600 could also affect immigration in ways not always obvious at first glance. Large, complex aviation projects often require international experts and workers. To build and certify an aircraft of this kind, Aviation Industry Corporation of China likely relied on people who brought skills from around the world. In the future, as AG600 production grows or as AVIC looks to export the aircraft, there may be a need for new workers with special training—from fields like engineering, maintenance, and flight safety.
This means that, over time, China’s aviation sector could see an increase in both foreign-born talent coming into the country and Chinese workers traveling abroad for training or support. The AG600 may also spur partnerships between China and other countries, which can often involve short-term work visas or exchange programs focused on technology and aviation skills.
Additionally, as China works to sell or lease the AG600 to other nations, it may establish training programs for foreign pilots and ground staff. This often brings new people into China for training, creating an international environment in the country’s aviation hubs. These types of imports and exchanges can have long-term effects on China’s workforce, creating new pathways for skilled immigrants and encouraging the flow of expertise in both directions.
Effects on Civil Aviation, Public Safety, and Communities
Certification of the AG600 by the Civil Aviation Administration of China is more than just a technical achievement. For people living in areas at risk of wildfire or in remote islands, the plane can mean the difference between help arriving in time or not at all. Reliable supply drops, rapid search and rescue missions, and better-coordinated emergency efforts all become more possible with this kind of aircraft on hand.
Employers in aviation and public safety fields may also see impact. They can now plan with the knowledge that such a tool exists and is available for purchase or lease. That opens up planning for bigger, more effective responses to disasters as well as new types of jobs that focus on flying, maintaining, and supporting this aircraft.
Educational institutions with aviation or emergency management programs might add the AG600 to their training or research topics, offering students and researchers a real-world example of the latest in advanced aircraft design.
What Comes Next for the AG600?
Now that it is certified, the AG600 is on its way to full commercial production and use. Buyers in China, and potentially from other countries, are able to order the aircraft for their own fire departments, coast guard services, or rescue agencies. The Aviation Industry Corporation of China is expected to continue improving the plane as technology updates or as special needs arise from different users.
In the near future, you may hear about the AG600 being used in high-profile rescue missions or fighting wildfires both inside China and abroad. Every test, sale, and successful operation helps build trust in this new aircraft and expands its possible uses.
For readers interested in more details about civil aviation rules, airplane certification, or China’s aviation sector, visit the Civil Aviation Administration of China’s official English website for official resources and updates.
Wrapping Up
The AG600 amphibious aircraft, now approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, is a major step for the country’s technology and disaster response efforts. With deep input from the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, this plane is ready to play a key role in public safety and open the next chapter for both Chinese aviation and international cooperation. Whether helping fight wildfires, delivering supplies to faraway islands, or rescuing people in need, the AG600 is more than just a plane—it’s a promise of quick and flexible support in times of need. As more is learned from using the AG600 in real-life missions, it will likely set new standards for what is possible in amphibious flight and civil aviation worldwide.
Learn Today
Type certificate → Official approval confirming an aircraft’s design, safety, and compliance with civil aviation standards, required for sale and operation.
Amphibious aircraft → A plane capable of taking off and landing on both water and dry land, suitable for diverse rescue missions.
Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) → China’s top regulator for civil aircraft safety, overseeing certifications, standards, and aviation market entry.
Wingtip floats → Small buoyancy devices attached to wing ends that keep amphibious aircraft stable during water operations.
Stepped hull design → A hull shape with built-in ‘steps’ that aids amphibious planes in successfully launching from lakes or seas.
This Article in a Nutshell
China’s AG600, now certified by the Civil Aviation Administration, is the world’s largest amphibious aircraft. Custom-built for rescue and emergency roles, it passed rigorous testing—over 10,000 experiments—and is designed to operate on land and water, boosting China’s disaster response and creating new opportunities for global aviation markets and skilled workers.
— By VisaVerge.com
Read more:
• Delta Air Lines Flight 2417: Plane ceiling collapses after takeoff
• Southwest Flight Attempts Takeoff from Taxiway Instead of Runway in Florida
• Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Grinds to a Halt
• Qatar Airways Jet Halts Prague Airport With Hydraulic Leak
• Newark Liberty International Airport Ran on One Controller
