BEIJING (Reuters) – Air China and China Southern Airlines will become the second and third Chinese airlines to use China’s Comac C919 passenger jet when they take delivery of their first aircraft on Wednesday, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
Chinese aircraft maker Comac is trying to break into the passenger jet market dominated by Western manufacturers Airbus and Boeing, which is suffering from a shortage of aircraft and a safety crisis at Boeing.
The C919 entered domestic service in May last year with China Eastern Airlines, which operates seven of the aircraft domestically.
China’s three major state-owned airlines have ordered 100 C919s, and COMAC said it has ordered more than 1,000 in total.
China Southern Airlines said last week on social media platform Weibo (NASDAQ: ) that the first C919 aircraft will be integrated into its fleet by Wednesday.
The C919 can seat up to 192 people and is in a similar class to the Boeing 737 Max and Airbus A320neo.
This year, COMAC has increased sales and production plans and marketed the C919 overseas, especially in Southeast Asia and also to the growing aviation market in Saudi Arabia.
It is also developing a wide-body aircraft design.
Chongtai Securities said last month it expects Comac to be able to produce 100 aircraft a year by around 2030, with total jetliner production exceeding 1,000 by 2035.
Airbus delivered 735 commercial aircraft in 2023.
Industry sources caution that COMAC is still far from making headway internationally, especially in the absence of standard certifications from the US or EU – which COMAC is seeking – or more efficient aircraft.
Aviation consultancy Cirium forecast in May that nearly 1,700 C919s would be delivered by 2042, giving the C919 a market share of about 25% compared to Boeing’s 30% and Airbus’s 45%.
The first C919 is expected to be delivered to a private airline by the end of the year.
Superna Airlines, a subsidiary of Hainan Airlines, China’s fourth-largest carrier, which has orders for 60 C919s, said it eventually aims to operate only C919s.
China will double its commercial aircraft fleet by 2043 and need 8,830 new planes, Boeing said in its annual commercial market outlook in July.
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