China reaches new heights with C919
When China Eastern Airlines took delivery of the country’s first home-made passenger jet late last year, the mainland’s aviation industry was more focused on getting its foreign-made passenger fleets moving again after a long Covid-imposed slowdown. The C919 single-aisle, narrow-bodied plane has finally completed its first commercial flight, fittingly from the country’s financial capital Shanghai to its national capital Beijing. The landing, with more than 130 passengers aboard, marked the emergence of a rival for the American Boeing 737 and the European Airbus A320, the workhorses of global passenger traffic.
Flight MU9191, as it was symbolically numbered, represented 15 years of development and manufacture by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), which is seen as a future competitor of the big two for deals in the vast international aviation market, even as it digests 300 domestic orders. A lot will depend on the record of the C919 – measured in terms of reliability, comfort and safety – in the home market. Success will provide alternatives for Asian neighbours and countries that are part of the Belt and Road Initiative.
To Beijing, it is part of the “Chinese dream” come true. It has taken a while, reflecting obstacles faced in the development and manufacture of high-end aircraft, including national security priorities. As a result, China’s emergence as a global commercial aviation operator took longer than expected and the country became one of the biggest customers of Western plane manufacturers.
The C919 was assembled in China but many parts, including the engine, were imported. Industry sources say a locally developed engine is still years away. The next step will be to build a bigger, twin-aisle aircraft that mounts a serious challenge to foreign dominance of the Chinese commercial aircraft market. That will be a bigger test, given that Beijing aims to reduce dependence on foreign technology as relations with Western countries deteriorate, and a whole range of advanced components remain vulnerable to foreign restrictions or sanctions. Even in the age of space exploration and artificial intelligence, a fully independent aircraft industry would be one of China’s greatest achievements.