The expansion of the C919, a commercial aircraft developed and produced in China, is progressing rapidly, with new milestones being reached in succession.
On January 1, China Eastern Airlines, the aircraft’s launch customer and owner of a fleet of 10 jets, debuted the Shanghai-Hong Kong flight, the first outside mainland China.
The approximately 2-hour and 30-minute route will be operated daily by flights MU721 and MU722.
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The aircraft takes off from Hongqiao International Airport at 8:20 a.m. and lands in Hong Kong at 10:45 a.m. The return flight departs at 11:55 a.m. and arrives in Shanghai at 2:05 p.m. (local time).
Despite the milestone, state-owned manufacturer COMAC is already planning longer flights. According to the company, the goal is to establish C919 routes in Southeast Asia by 2026.
In addition to operating with Chinese carriers, COMAC envisions closing orders with foreign airlines in the region. Potential customers include Garuda (Indonesia), Vietnam Airlines and AirAsia (Malaysia).
Expansion of production in Pudong
The Chinese manufacturer’s ambition comes after the delivery of 13 C919s in 2024, which were added to another three aircraft delivered between 2022 and 2023.
In the fourth quarter alone, COMAC completed the delivery of six commercial jets, an average of one C919 every two weeks.
However, the company is aware that the production rate is still very low compared to the expected demand.
On December 28, COMAC held the launch event for an expansion project at the Pudong plant in Shanghai, with the plan to establish large-scale production.
The company expects to reach an annual production rate of 150 aircraft per year by 2028. This is more than six times the current pace, but still far from the capacity of its Western rivals, Airbus and Boeing.
Despite the “more than a thousand orders” claimed by the state-owned company, another milestone sought is type certification by EASA, the European civil aviation agency.
The approval process is underway and is expected to be completed by 2025, which will open doors never before imagined for a product of this type made in China.
