China Showcases New C919 Jet, Competes with Boeing and Airbus
- The Sun Daily.
VIVA – China showcases the C919 jet on November 8, 2022. The C919 jet is the first large passenger aircraft to be produced domestically after it was approved by regulators.
The sleek, narrow-body aircraft took to the runway at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, circling through cloudy skies over the southern city of Zhuhai before touching down in front of hundreds of spectators.
As quoted from the Sundaily on November 8, 2022, Chinese authorities hope the C919, built by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC) will challenge foreign models such as the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320.
Beijing also hopes its first domestically-built jetliner with mass commercial potential will reduce the country's dependence on foreign technology, as relations with Western countries deteriorate, even though most of the plane's parts are sourced overseas.
Maskapai China Eastern Airlines
- China Eastern Airlines
Chinese regulators approved the C919 in September and received praise from Chinese President Xi Jinping for the project. Chinese airlines are enthusiastically supporting the jet even though it has yet to receive licenses from US and European regulators to enter mass production.
China Eastern Airlines, the country's second-largest airline by passenger numbers, said in May that it plans to include four C919s in its fleet, with domestic media reporting that the aircraft will enter service during the first quarter of 2023.
COMAC conveyed that more than 800 orders for the C919 have been placed by dozens of customers. China officially announced a long-standing deal for Airbus jets worth US$17 billion or around IDR 226.687 trillion during a visit by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz last week.
The Boeing 737 MAX has been banned from flying in China since 2019, after two fatal accidents, although Boeing said in July that deliveries might be approved by Chinese regulators this year. However, prolonged US-China trade tensions and China's worst commercial air disaster earlier this year involving a Boeing 737-800 have slowed progress.
