29/05/2024

China’s C919 aircraft celebrates its first anniversary

Update 29 Oct 2024: Chinese planemaker COMAC opens Singapore office
A COMAC C919 flies past during an aerial flying display ahead of the Singapore Airshow at Changi Exhibition Centre in Singapore, on Feb 18, 2024

Chinese planemaker COMAC has opened an office in Singapore, China's embassy in the country said, as the state-owned company tries to break into a global passenger jet market dominated by Western manufacturers.

The new Asia-Pacific office was a key symbolic step for the passenger jet maker in taking its aircraft overseas, China's ambassador to Singapore, Cao Zhongming, said at the inauguration. "It's hoped that COMAC will make steady progress on the road of internationalisation," he added, the embassy said in Monday's brief posting on social media site Weixin.

This year COMAC has stepped up plans for production and sales of its C919 narrow-body passenger plane, which is in a category similar to Boeing's 737 MAX and the A320neo planes of Airbus, although only flown within China. COMAC has been marketing its planes outside China. But industry sources say it is a long way from making inroads internationally, especially without benchmark certifications from the European Union, which it is pursuing for the C919, or the United States.

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CHINA’S C919 PASSENGER PLANE
How China’s C919 is faring a year after maiden flight

China’s home-grown passenger jet, the C919, has marked one year in service since it started being used for commercial flights. Fifteen years in the making, the single-aisle plane made its maiden voyage in May 2023, officially launching China as a global player in the aviation manufacturing industry. 


China’s C919: first home-grown airliner makes international debut
China’s C919: first home-grown airliner makes international debut

China's challenger to Airbus and Boeing's passenger jets, the narrowbody C919, made its international debut in Singapore on the eve of opening day of its air show. It comes after Chinese planemaker Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) signalled an interest in gaining a bigger foothold in the aviation market in 2024.


China’s C919 aircraft celebrates its first anniversary
A C919 jet flying over Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour

A year ago, China’s home-grown C919 jet made its maiden commercial flight. The flight between Shanghai and Beijing marked a milestone achievement in the country’s aviation industry. The narrowbody airliner developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, with a range of over 4,000 kilometres and a capacity to seat up to 156 passengers, aims to compete wtth Boeing's 737 and Airbus A320


China’s C919, after a year of domestic flights, preps its pitch for Western endorsement
China’s domestically produced jet, the C919, has completed a year of commercial flights with international certification its next step

Near Shanghai’s Pudong Airport, mainland China’s busiest gateway for international aviation, a husk of a jet sits forlorn on a slope. It has been immobile for years, gathering dust and rust, only able to look on with longing as modern jets – mostly of Western make – roar overhead.

This model of the ill-fated Y-10 – China’s first attempt at a home-grown airliner – has spent far more time on display at the main assembly site of Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (Comac) than it ever did gliding above the clouds. This model of the ill-fated Y-10 – China’s first attempt at a home-grown airliner – has spent far more time on display at the main assembly site of Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (Comac) than it ever did gliding above the clouds.

“Comac has a lot of convincing to do,” said Li Hanming, an aviation analyst and founder of a transport consultancy which operates in the United States. “The best way to showcase the C919’s virtues and viability for the global aviation industry is to let Chinese airlines run it well.”


China Eastern Airlines gets another C919 aircraft
A C919 large passenger aircraft, China's first self-developed trunk jetliner, takes off from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in east China's Shanghai, May 28, 2023

The sixth C919 jetliner joined the China Eastern Airlines fleet on Tuesday, indicating the acceleration of commercial operation of China's homegrown large passenger aircraft.

This came one year after the first commercial flight of C919 was made. The aircraft, delivered to China Eastern on Monday, landed at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport on Tuesday morning after a short flight from Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

C919 was developed by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC).


COMAC: DESTINED FOR FAILURE OR SUCCESS?

The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, COMAC, or the "Dream of a Nation," is referred to by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Founded in 2008, the state-backed Chinese aircraft manufacturer laid out its ambitions to become a global leader in aircraft manufacturing, taking on the likes of industry giants Boeing and Airbus. After successfully developing and launching two aircraft models in the 16 years the company has been in business, the question of whether COMAC is destined for success or failure continues to loom.

Since its founding, COMAC has launched two aircraft, the ARJ21 and the C919. The ARJ21 is the company's regional jet with both -700 and slightly larger -900 variants. Both the ARJ21-700 and ARJ21-900 tout a standard range of 1,200 NM (2,200 km) and 2,000 NM (3,700 km) and 1,800 NM (3,300 km) for the extended range of -700 and -900, respectively. The main difference between the two ARJ21 variants is in seating capacity, with the ARJ21-700 seating 90 passengers and the ARJ21-900 seating 15 more.

COMAC's other product, the C919, was developed as a competitor to Boeing's 737 and Airbus' A320 families. The China COMAC aircraft C919 has an advertised range of 2,200 NM (4,100 km) for the standard version and 3,000 NM (5,600 km) for the extended-range variant. The aircraft seats between 160 and 190 passengers, depending on the cabin configuration. Both aircraft have amassed an impressive number of orders for brand-new airplanes. As of March 2024, the ARJ21 has 345 orders, 20 options, and 134 deliveries. On the other hand, the China COMAC aircraft C919 has 933 orders, 120 options, and only five deliveries. While the COMAC C919 does only have five deliveries, it has received tremendous support from China's big three airlines, with China Southern and China Eastern (the launch customer for the C919) [https://aeroxplorer.com/articles/china-eastern-airlines-receives-second-c919-aircraft.php] each placing an order for 100 standard aircraft and Air China ordering 100 of the extended range variant.


Swelling backlog focuses attention on Comac’s ramp-up plans

While China’s Comac may already be looking to the long-term future with its proposed ’C939’ widebody programme, the state-owned airframer appears to be focused on the more pressing need to ramp up output of its C919 single-aisle.

To date, just four examples of the CFM International Leap-1C-powered narrowbody have entered service – all with China Eastern Airlines – since the twinjet gained certification in September 2022. It has been a sluggish start for the Chinese narrowbody, particularly when compared to the soaring production rates of its Western rivals. Airbus, for example, is currently churning out more than 50 A320neo-family aircraft each month. That the process has been slower than expected is not surprising, says Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory.

“It is probably due to the difficulties associated with building conforming aircraft; a very different challenge than just flying a jet and getting it certified. “That’s a much longer road, along with the enormous challenge of establishing a product-support apparatus,” adds Aboulafia. Equally, with economic and geopolitical considerations always part of Comac’s calculus, the slow ramp-up may be by design, argues Shukor Yusof, founder of aviation consultancy Endau Analytics. He thinks Comac is “in no hurry… not because it can’t”, but because it is “not in its, or China’s, interest to do”.


C919 Large Pax Aircraft Is Equipment of Great National Strategic Importance

CMB Financial Leasing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CM BANK (03968.HK)  -0.350 (-0.945%)    Short selling $39.22M; Ratio 12.909%, recently delivered the industry's first financial leasing C919 aircraft to CHINA EAST AIR (00670.HK)  -0.040 (-1.802%)    Short selling $880.96K; Ratio 13.087%   , according to China Securities Journal.

The large passenger aircraft is an equipment of great national strategic importance, and Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) and CHINA EAST AIR are the leading enterprises in the domestic large passenger aircraft industrial chain, Wang Liang, President of CM BANK, said. Related NewsJPM's May Recommendation of CN Value & Growth Stocks (Table).

As the industry's first C919 financial leasing project, the delivery will also become a landmark event for the aircraft manufacturing industry, civil aviation transportation industry and financial industry to cooperate and promote the high quality development of the domestic large passenger aircraft industry, Wang added.


China’s C919 Takes Maiden Commercial Flight
First Bite From Boeing

China's first homegrown passenger jet C919 took off from Shanghai to Beijing on its maiden commercial flight on Sunday 28 May 2023.

After a 16-year development program plagued by delays, China’s homegrown C919 passenger jet made its long-awaited maiden commercial flight Sunday, marking a small but symbolic first challenge to Boeing and Airbus in one of their most important markets.

Despite backing from top leaders and a ready-made market for its planes, manufacturer Comac faces a steep path to success.


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