COMAC announced at the opening of the Airshow China 2024 in Zhuhai that Air China will be the launch customer for the C929, the manufacturer’s first widebody.
The aircraft, which began development in partnership with Russia as the CR929, will have a capacity for 280 passengers and a range of 12,000 km.
Neither the Chinese planemaker nor the carrier have revealed how many aircraft will be ordered. The C929’s timeline is still quite vague, with rumors about a prototype being built but no target date for entry into service.
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The C929 will be a direct competitor to the Boeing 787 and the Airbus A330neo, but it is unclear which engine will be used on the twin-aisle jet.
While it belonged to CRAIC, a joint venture between COMAC and Russia’s UAC, the CR929 would have been equipped with the PD-35 turbofan, but the end of the partnership in 2031 and the sanctions imposed on Moscow have put this alternative in doubt.
China is developing its own commercial turbofans, but the programs are still in the intermediate stages, as far as we know.
COMAC currently produces the C909, formerly the ARJ21, and is increasing production of the C919, a jet the size of the A320 and the 737.
Therefore, the C929 would complete its jetliner portfolio, covering a range of 90 to 280 seats.
