COMAC plans to produce at least 30 C919 commercial jets by 2025, the company’s deputy general manager, Shen Bo, told The Paper.
A rival to the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, the C919 entered service in May 2023 and currently has 16 jets in service, 13 of which were delivered last year.
For now, the 160-seat aircraft is flown by the country’s three main carriers, China Eastern Airlines, Air China and China Southern Airlines, which together have more than 300 firm orders with COMAC.
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The manufacturer, however, is eager to export the C919 and has opened negotiations with several carriers in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Brazil and Vietnam.
The Vietnamese government, in fact, said last week that it plans to remove regulatory restrictions on the operation of COMAC aircraft.
State-owned Vietnam Airlines and privately owned VietJet are among the potential customers for the C919 and the C909 regional jet.
Expansion at the Pudong factory in Shanghai
To meet new orders, COMAC is expanding the industrial complex located at Pudong Airport in Shanghai. The goal is for the plant to have the capacity to produce 50 C919s per year and reach 150 aircraft per year by the end of the decade.
This is a low level compared to Airbus and Boeing, however. The European planemaker is ramping up production to reach a rate of 75 A320neo family aircraft per month by 2027.
Still, the C919 could steal customers from the A320 and 737 as the two Western manufacturers struggle to meet so many outstanding orders.
The C919 still needs to obtain type certification from EASA, which is expected this year. Approval would open doors for the aircraft in several markets, but depends on relations between the government of Xi Jinping and the new administration of US President Donald Trump.
Crucial components of the C919 such as avionics and the CFM Leap-1A engines are produced by US companies.
