This Tuesday (28/05), China Eastern Airlines received its sixth COMAC C919 model aircraft, a national product that celebrates its first year of commercial operations. However, perhaps the most relevant fact in this notable event for Chinese aviation is the demonstration of the advancement of COMAC (Commercial Aircraft Corp of China) in its operations.
According to the company itself, the delivery of the sixth C919 is the first of an order for 100 aircraft placed with the manufacturer, which has increasingly accelerated its production and development. Therefore, thanks to the latest developments, industry analysts claim that by 2035 we will see COMAC among the most competitive major companies on the market.
Exactly 1 year ago, the inaugural commercial flight of the C919 was carried out and since then its operations have advanced more and more. Until Monday (27/05), the C919 aircraft transported a total of almost 300 thousand engers, accumulating more than 6 thousand incident-free flight hours, demonstrating success to date.
According to the Xinhua News Agency, the C919 and the ARJ21 (another jet of national origin) carried out demonstration flights in Southeast Asia in March this year. The countries that received them were Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia, showing the potential that COMAC can initially explore in the Asia-Pacific region.
COMAC also has orders for the C919 that exceed 1.200 copies, including international orders from companies such as AerCap and Brunei Qiji Airlines according to a February report by Xinhua News Agency.
“Over the past year, commercial operations of the C919 have made notable progress, carrying large numbers of engers and carrying out test flights on more routes. The aircraft's debut at the Singapore Airshow underlines COMAC's determination and initiative to explore international markets,” said Wang Yanan, the editor-in-chief of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine.
Based on this data on the expansion of C919 mass productions, Wang also states that, in production capacity, maintenance and technical , COMAC is likely to be at the forefront, alongside Boeing and Airbus, as a of the largest companies in this market sector by 2035.
