Developers: | Commercial Aviation Corporation of China (COMAC) |
Branches: | Transport |
2022: Start of deliveries
In November 2022, it became known that the Commercial Aviation Corporation of China (COMAC) received the first orders for 300 narrow-body medium-haul passenger aircraft C919, capable of taking on board 150-160 passengers.
The development of the liner was carried out at the initiative of the Chinese government. The aircraft made its first flight on May 5, 2017, and in September 2022 the aircraft received a certificate of airworthiness from the Civil Aviation Administration of China. In total, the C919 project took 14 years to complete.
It is reported that orders for the liner came from seven leasing companies in the PRC. Это China National Bank Financial Leasing, ICBC Financial Leasing, CCB Financial Leasing, Bank of Communications Financial Leasing, China Merchants Bank Financial Leasing, SPDB Financial Leasing и Suyin Financial Leasing Seven.
The C919 aircraft will compete with the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. And it was in order to squeeze out the named companies in the Chinese air transportation market that the project was initiated. In the period after the peak of the pandemic, the segment of narrow-body liners remains one of the largest areas of growth in aviation, which is associated with the removal of many restrictions. However, the C919 does not currently represent any competition between the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 outside of China.
At the same time, Boeing has 4,277 outstanding orders for the 737 model by mid-November 2022, and Airbus has 6,772 unclosed orders for the A220 and A320 combined. At the same time, for example, Airbus supplies narrow-body airliners to many Chinese companies, including Air China, Beijing Capital Airlines]], Air Guilin, China Southern, Chengdu Airlines and China Eastern. In such a situation, the C919 can occupy a significant share of the Chinese market for narrow-body medium-haul passenger aircraft.[1]