Will the Chinese-made ‘C919’ passenger plane be able to compete with American Boeing and European Airbus?
China’s long-held dream of bringing a passenger plane to compete with the two major western airlines flying in the skies, American Boeing and European Airbus, is about to become a reality.
On Friday, China Limited’s Commercial Aircraft Corporation (COMEC) took delivery of its first C919 (C919) passenger aircraft, which will be operated by China Eastern Airlines.
It is a single-aisle (one-stair) vessel, with a capacity of 164 passengers. It has two cabins. Eight seats are installed in the business class cabin while the rest are in the economy class.
The aircraft was handed over to China Eastern Airlines at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, from where the aircraft took off for its maiden flight and made a short flight to Hongxiu Airport, about 50 kilometers away in the same city.
China Eastern Airlines is expected to receive four more C919 passenger aircraft in the next two years. It should be noted that this aircraft will start commercial flights in the spring of next year.
With the launch of this operation, it will be China’s first step towards fulfilling its desire to counter Western aviation.
But first, it is very important to know what kind of features these planes have and how many possibilities there are to get their own separate place in this race of the commercial aviation market?
Global competition for regional markets
The Chinese Comac company has so far received orders for 1115 C919 aircraft. A review of information available by Bloomberg shows that these orders are mostly from Chinese customers.
These narrow-body aircraft have a range of between 4,075 and 5,555 km and can accommodate between 158 and 192 seats.
It is an airliner designed with regional rather than intercontinental flights in mind. This aircraft directly competes with Airbus A320neo and Boeing B737.
