As Boeing flails, does China’s C919 jet have ‘window of opportunity’ in global market?
Home-grown airliner is ‘pillar and pioneer’ in China’s race to rival Western aviation giants, but challenges remain, state media says
China’s home-grown C919 passenger jet has a “window of opportunity” to establish itself in the global market as American aviation giant Boeing grapples with technical and safety concerns, but it still faces challenges ahead to compete with its bigger rivals, state media said.
Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), the developer and producer of the narrowbody passenger jet, delivered its first C919 planes for Air China and China Southern Airlines on Wednesday.
Comac previously delivered seven C919 jets to China Eastern Airlines – the first airline to fly the aircraft, which began commercial operations in May of last year.
“The C919 has been proven to possess the conditions necessary for entering into scaled commercial operations, and it can be launched for full-scale operation in the domestic civil aviation market,” the state-owned Economic Daily said in a commentary on Sunday.
“With the current duopoly of Airbus and Boeing for civil-use aircraft, the increasing presence of the C919 is a rare breakthrough,” it added.
