Lisa Barrington
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – China’s Airbus and Boeing (NYSE:) passenger jet rival, the C919 narrowbody aircraft manufactured by the Commercial Airplanes Corporation of China (COMAC), has made its first flight outside China, completing the flight. at the Singapore Airshow on Sunday.
China has invested heavily in its attempts to weaken the influence of the two dominant Western aircraft makers in the global passenger market.
This year, China has said it is looking to expand the presence of C919 and COMAC at home and abroad. The aircraft is certified only in China, and the first of four C919s began flying with China Eastern Airlines (OTC:) last year.
As Airbus and Boeing struggle to ramp up production and meet demand for new planes, and Boeing grapples with a series of crises, the airline industry is watching COMAC position itself as a viable alternative.
COMAC will invest tens of billions of yuan over the next 3-5 years to expand C919 production capacity, a Chinese COMAC official said in January.
China’s aviation authorities said last month that they would be validating the C919 by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) this year, a process that began in 2018.
The C919 was one of two commercial aircraft makers flying their planes off the coast of Singapore along with Airbus at Sunday’s preview of Asia’s largest air show. Boeing will not be showcasing a commercial aircraft this year.
COMAC has two passenger products: the ARJ21 regional jet and the larger 158- to 192-seat C919 twin-engine narrowbody airliner, which competes with the existing Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX 8 models.
In December, the C919 made its first flight outside mainland China to Hong Kong. ARJ21s are used by the Indonesian airline TransNusa Air.
Many in the industry warn that China only has four C919s in service; The aircraft is certified only by Chinese regulators, and the C919 is dependent on international supply chains.
However, the aviation industry’s supply crisis, which is testing the expected full return and then the growth of civilian capacity in Asia, is drawing more attention from COMAC.
“We are also seeing a growing trend of customers including the C919 option when evaluating their fleet,” said Adam Cowburn of Alton Aviation Consultancy.
Two C919s were delivered in 2023. Aviation consultancy IBA forecasts that 7-10 C919s could be delivered in 2024.
“With Airbus and Boeing’s narrowbody aircraft in the A320neo and 737 MAX families having been sold out for most of this decade, the C919 has a great opportunity to gain market share, particularly in the domestic market,” said Mike Yeomans of aviation consultancy IBA.
“The main challenges for COMAC are manufacturing to meet local demand and certification to reach international markets,” Yeomans added.