COMAC's C919 aircraft set to enter period of rapid growth

China's first domestically developed single-aisle aircraft, the C919, has achieved a new operating milestone after it was delivered to Air China and China Southern Airlines on Wednesday. The model is expected to become fully operational in the domestic air travel market going forward, said an industry expert.

The two State-owned carriers received their first C919 jets simultaneously on Wednesday evening at the final assembly manufacturing site of Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, or COMAC, in Shanghai, and the jets are planned to be put into commercial operation on more routes and cover more areas.

So far, the C919 has received more than 1,000 orders from home and abroad, and nine aircraft have been delivered. Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines, its first customer, currently operates seven C919 jets on multiple domestic routes.

"The new deliveries stand as an important milestone for large-scale and market-oriented operations of the C919. The model provides the aviation industry a third option besides Boeing and Airbus. To truly enter the global market, it requires mass production and a ramp-up of production capacity of the model," said Lin Zhijie, a civil aviation industry analyst.

"The C919 has a more profound impact on China's high-end manufacturing industries, as it is foreseen to drive breakthroughs in a group of cutting-edge manufacturing technologies," Lin said.

Comparable to the narrow-body Airbus A320 and the Boeing B737 series, the C919 has 158 to 192 seats and a flying range of 4,075 kilometers to 5,555 km. Air China's C919 jet is equipped with two classes and 158 seats, while China Southern's C919 plane has a layout of three classes and 164 seats, the carriers said.

Air China, China Southern and China Eastern earlier each purchased 100 C919 aircraft, and the planes are expected to be delivered before 2031, according to the delivery plans.

"The inclusion of the C919 in China National Aviation Holding Corp Ltd and China Southern Airlines Group signifies that the aircraft has entered a period of rapid growth after a breakthrough from zero to one," said He Dongfeng, chairman of COMAC.

"With continuous expansion of the C919's commercial operations, it is expected to account for a larger market share with more airlines adopting the model. With strengthening brand impact, the model is set to bring more vitality to China's civil aviation market and even the global market," He said.

Since the C919 began commercial operations in May last year as part of the China Eastern fleet, it has undertaken more than 3,600 commercial flights and its accumulated flying time exceeds 10,000 hours, according to COMAC.

China's domestic air travel market is steadily picking up after the COVID-19 pandemic. In July, some 69 million trips were handled, up 10.8 percent year-on-year, a record high, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Fueled by constantly growing travel demand, China's domestic air travel market will surpass that of the United States to become the world's largest by 2043. The country's commercial fleet size will grow by 4.1 percent annually over the next two decades to 9,740 jets by 2043, US aircraft manufacturer Boeing said recently in its latest forecast.