China’s equivalent to the A320 and B737, the COMAC C919 makes first commercial flight

Delivered to launch customer China Eastern Airlines in December 2022, and after considerable flight testing, the COMAC C919 has completed its first commercial flight. Built by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) the narrow-body C919 left Shanghai at 10:32 a.m. local time. It was subsequently welcomed with a water salute after landing at Beijing Capital International Airport at 12:31 p.m.

The C919 is China's first ‘home-grown' commercial airliner, though is powered by a pair of LEAP-1C engines, which were developed by CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric and French high-tech industrial group Safran. Many of the plane's major elements such as the nose, fuselage, outer wing, vertical stabilizer and horizontal stabilizer were designed by COMAC. The launch of the C919 is seen as a pivotal moment in Beijing's “Made in China 2025” strategy, which is looking to boost local manufacturing, including by reducing reliance on foreign airplanes for its aviation sector.

“The first commercial flight is a coming-of-age ceremony of the new aircraft, and C919 will get better and better if it stands the test of the market,” said Zhang Xiaoguang, Director of the marketing and sales department of COMAC, in a Xinhua report. With a range of up to 5,555 kilometres (3,452 miles), the C919 will be looking to take on the world's two largest aircraft manufacturers, Airbus and Boeing. It will be a direct competitor to their A320 and B737 narrow-body jets, primarily used for domestic and regional international flights.

The single-aisle, twin-engine C919 has 164 seats in a two-class cabin configuration consisting of business and economy seats. According to the 2022 Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Report issued by the Shanghai government, as of the end of 2022, 32 clients have placed a total of 1,035 orders for the new plane.