The accumulated delay has somewhat tarnished the aura of the C919, the first medium-haul aircraft developed by China, but the aircraft should finally welcome passengers in 2023. The single-aisle aircraft from the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) received its certification on September 29.
At the end of July, the six devices used for these tests had completed their elephant walking, a staged presentation to celebrate the end of test flights. But, for the company, this first step in the certification of the C919, designed to carry 158 passengers over 4,075 kilometers, comes too late to be a success.
This delay of more than five years, between the maiden flight and the possible marketing of the device, confirms the industrial difficulties which had leaked in the media in recent years. Meanwhile, Airbus has won major contracts in China.
Kept on the ground for several months
The date of the certification owes nothing to chance: it was essential for this strategic project to obtain the blank check from the administration before the 20e congress of the Communist Party, which begins on October 16, and should notably confirm President Xi Jinping at the head of the country for five more years.
The day after the event, the leaders of Comac also received encouragement from the Chinese president, during an exhibition on the C919 presented at the People’s Palace in Beijing. The development of this first large airliner is “the will of the country, the dream of the country and the aspiration of the people”said the Chinese leader, according to the new China agency. “ [Le président] stressed the need to improve the development of large-scale commercial aircraft, advance the establishment of a strong industrial nation, and spare no effort to make China a modern socialist country in all respects, and to realize the dream of national rebirth”, says the state agency.
When the project was launched in 2008, the aircraft manufacturer was counting on certification in 2014. An ambitious goal in a cutting-edge field where China lacks experience. After a few years in the making, the C919’s maiden flight finally took place to much fanfare in 2017.
But the single-aisle was not at the end of its troubles: from 2018, the prototypes were kept on the ground for several months, to carry out major modifications, in particular the reinforcement of the engine and the nacelle (which accommodates the engine), after several media. Necessary adjustments due to calculation errors on the forces that would be exerted on the device, reported the Reuters agency, in 2020.
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