The COMAC C919 Receives Type Certification

DALLAS - The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has announced that the COMAC C919 has finally received its type certificate at a grand ceremony at Beijing Central Airport (PEK).

This means that China's newest commercial narrow-body aircraft has been granted permission to start operations and deliveries to airlines as early as the end of this year, after passing all the Airworthiness Standards for Transport Aircraft (CCAR-25-R3) under Part 25 of the China Civil Aviation Regulations.

The announcement was expected to take place on September 19. However, as President Xi Jinping needed to quarantine for a period of 10 days after his official visit to Uzbekistan, the ceremony was postponed to today to ensure the attendance of the Chinese leader at this historic moment.

At the moment, four big airlines in China and 13 leasing organizations have placed orders for the C919, and the first delivery is expected to occur in December to China Eastern Airlines (MU).

The C919 represents China's second modern commercial aircraft after the ARJ21, which at the moment is globally known as the first big failure of COMAC. It seems, however, that things are about to change with the development of the C919.

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Bad News for Boeing and Airbus?

China's civil aviation market is the second biggest and most influential globally, closely behind that of the United States of America.

It is believed that in less than a decade, more people will be flying between, to, and from China than any other country in the world. In light of that, and in order to reduce the amount of imported aircraft into China, COMAC opted to develop its own short and medium-range aircraft family, making sure that the oligopoly led by Airbus and Boing won't affect the development of the civil aviation market inside China.

In addition, as most Chinese airlines are state-owned, we can surmise that they would prefer to choose the C919 for their medium-haul programs. If that is the case, it would be a big hit for Airbus and Boeing, as their market share in China is around 80% and will be gradually reduced in favor of COMAC and other Chinese manufacturers.

Images: Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC).