Shanghai: China’s indigenous C919 narrow-body jet, designed to challenge Airbus-Boeing’s monopoly, is nearing certification as its test planes have completed all test flight tasks, the company said on Saturday.
State-owned manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC) said on its official social media account that the six test planes had completed test operations as the program entered the final stages of receiving certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China. does. Required for commercial operation.
It will be a milestone in China’s ambitions to climb the manufacturing supply chain. China’s COMAC is now effectively the third option in the market for aircraft with more than 100 seats, after Boeing and Airbus struck deals to handle production of rival aircraft made by Embraer and Bombardier.
Designed to compete directly with the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus 320neo families, since its launch in 2008, the C919 aircraft program has faced a number of technical issues and difficult US export controls.
The launch customer is state-owned China Eastern Airlines, which ordered five C919 jets in March last year.
The Changjiang Daily, a newspaper owned by Wuhan’s local government, said in a report on July 8 that the airline was scheduled to take the first deliveries in August. The aircraft, assembled in China, relies heavily on Western components, including engines and avionics.
Published in Dawn, July 24, 2022