The first “Chinese-made” aircraft intended for commercial passenger flights has made an appearance at the Singapore Airshow, re-sparking questions over the plane’s potential to compete with the likes of Airbus and Boeing.
The C919 project was launched in 2007. Developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC), the aircraft rolled off the production line in Shanghai in November 2015. In 2017, the plane accomplished its maiden flight and, in 2022, China Eastern Airlines started flying the aircraft commercially in May 2023.
The C919 delivered to China Eastern has a 164-seat configuration that comes with a two-class cabin layout, including 8 business class seats and 156 economy class ones, according to Aviation Source news. In the economy cabin, the middle seat in each three-seat row is 1.5 cm wider than its neighbouring ones, which offers more comfort.
With an aisle height of 2.25 meters, the plane comes with an efficient air filtration system, a passenger-centric lighting system and low noise. Besides, there are twenty 12” drop-down screens that can play 1080P videos.
Although it is advertised as Chinese made or homegrown, the at least 40% of C919’s components are produced and delivered by international suppliers, according to Chinese newspaper The Global Times. The engines come from the same company that delivers for the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 Max, Safran. Europe’s Liebherr-Aerospace supplies the landing gear, North Carolina-based Honeywell provides the flight control systems and GE Aviation produces the plane’s flight deck displays.
Amid the Singapore Airshow, Comac confirmed an order of 40 C919s from Tibet Airlines, marking the second international order for the aircraft. Last year, Brunei’s GallopAir, placed orders for the C919 as well as for the Comac’s regional jet ARJ21.
While interest in the airlines seems to be piling up, currently, it is only approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, with no other regulatory bodies having given the green light yet. Before talking about any expansion or competing with Airbus and Boeing, Comac needs to receive approval from safety authorities like the EU Aviation Safety Agency and the US Federal Aviation Administration.
Meanwhile, Airbus’ CEO of aircraft commercial business, Christian Scherer, has said the C919 is “not going to rock the boat in particular”. ” We don’t want to stick our head in the sand … it’s a normal thing to see more competition … the market is large enough for competition, we welcome the competition”, he added.
