The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) has announced that its sixth C919 AC106 prototype has successfully undergone its first test flight which lasted just over two hours after the jet took off from Shanghai on Friday, December 12. The C919 is China's solution to the Airbus-Boeing duopoly involving the A320- and 737-family jets respectively and is specifically targeting the 150-seat sector of the market.
This latest test flight is a significant milestone for the company which already has five other test aircraft located throughout the country. According to COMAC officials, the state-owned company is aiming to obtain Chinese certification for the C919 in 2021, though this date is subject to regulatory approval.
COMAC has also made it clear that the aircraft's safety remains a top priority, while He Dongfeng, the company's Communist Party boss, wrote in a state-owned newspaper in December that aircraft safety was key to the survival of COMAC.
