the C919, a first medium-haul “made in China” operational but with limited commercial prospects

China Eastern Airlines, one of the main Chinese state airlines, had left nothing to chance for the first commercial flight of the C919, the first medium-haul “made in China”, on Sunday May 28. The Shanghai-Beijing flight was reserved for hand-picked passengers (impossible to buy a ticket for this flight), who received a special boarding pass, red like the Chinese flag, and a luxury meal. A commemorative stamp was even printed for the occasion.

Based in Shanghai, the company received its first C919, a 164-seat aircraft, in December 2022, before starting the hundred hours of empty test flights still necessary for each company to obtain the right to fly the device. But if this flight is a historic moment for the Chinese project to develop a domestic aircraft manufacturer, the objective of competing with the Boeing-Airbus duopoly is still far away.

The name of the C919, a device built by another state-owned company, Comac, was supposed to bring him luck: in Mandarin, nine is pronounced “jiu”, as ” long “ Or ” eternal “. A way to wish long life to the program. But after eight years behind the initial schedule, this name above all evokes the slowness of the company. Delays that harm the commercial potential of the C919, whose technologies will be partly outdated when it becomes more widely available.

The cost, an insufficient argument

According to Reuters, Comac has already started to strengthen its production lines to reach a capacity of 150 aircraft per year in 2028. Airbus is capable of producing four times as many A320s, the direct competitor of the C919 with the 737 Boeing MAX. Not enough, however, to call into question Comac’s order book in China, a country where aircraft purchases are largely decided by the central government. In January, Zhang Yujin, deputy general manager of Comac, announced 1,200 pre-orders: “At the moment, carriers are fighting over orders”, he boasted.

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 of design, the maiden flight of the C919 finally took place with great 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 important modifications, in particular the reinforcement of the engine and the nacelle (which accommodates the engine).

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