Editorial | First year of smooth flying for China’s C919 passenger jet
- While the C919 still has far to go before it can seriously consider itself a rival to Boeing or Airbus, the commercial case for its success is strong
For decades China struggled to design and build a viable aircraft on its own. Initial efforts in the 1970s and 1980s stalled with just two Y-10 prototypes that spent a scant amount of time in the air before the programme was grounded by a funding shortfall and design flaws.
One was left to rust on display near Pudong International Airport in Shanghai as US and European aircraft soared overhead, a constant reminder that China’s bid to produce a home-grown aircraft had yet to take off.
Against that historical backdrop, it is quite a remarkable feat for China’s single-aisle C919 to be celebrating the first anniversary of its maiden voyage. The country’s decades-long efforts to build a safe and commercially viable aircraft that might one day compete with the two international aircraft manufacturing giants should be lauded.
In 2008, China launched the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) in Shanghai. After 15 years, several missed deadlines for maiden flights and deliveries, a China Eastern Airlines MU9191 flew from Shanghai to Beijing in May 2023 for the C919’s first commercial flight.
It debuted internationally at the Singapore Airshow in February and on June 1 saw its first successful flight beyond mainland China, between Shanghai and Hong Kong. The big three domestic airlines have ordered 100 aircraft apiece.
The commercial case is strong. China’s domestic market is enormous – more than 1 in 5 of the world’s new planes will fly in Chinese airspace between now and 2041, one securities house report estimates.
