European Setback for China's C919: Certification Delayed

DALLAS — The arrival of the Chinese-made COMAC C919 aircraft in Europe will not occur before 2028. Florian Guillermet, Executive Director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), confirmed this via Preferente, stating that the certification process is expected to take “between three and six years.”

This development is a significant setback for the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), which had anticipated receiving certification from European authorities in 2025. That timeline now appears overly optimistic.

In an interview with L'Usine Nouvelle, Guillermet explained that the current timeline reflects a more realistic framework for completing the full scope of required procedures. These include validating the aircraft’s design, inspecting critical components, and conducting flight testing, which are standard stages in the approval process for commercial aircraft.

Despite not securing certification outside of China, the C919 is progressing in its domestic growth. Following the first delivery to China Eastern Airlines (MU) in 2022, COMAC delivered two more aircraft in 2023 and an additional 13 in 2024. The manufacturer aims to deliver 30 aircraft in 2025 and has set a target to ramp up production to 150 units annually within five years.

COMAC claims the C919 has amassed approximately 1,000 orders, capturing roughly 10% of the global market for medium-haul aircraft. Although the manufacturer’s production levels are still far behind those of its main competitors—the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX—the Chinese manufacturer aims to position itself to challenge the Western aerospace giants directly.

As previously reported by Preferente, both Airbus and Boeing have expressed concern over the emergence of a possible “triopoly” in the industry. One key factor fueling this anxiety is the C919’s pricing: at an estimated cost of US$70 million, it undercuts comparable aircraft such as the A320, which can sell for as much as US$110 million.

Does this price disparity combined with China’s push for aviation independence signal a possible disruption in the global aerospace market, even if Europe's skies remain closed to the C919?