C919

The Comac C919 is a narrow-body airliner developed by Chinese aircraft manufacturer Comac.
The development program was launched in 2008. Production began in December 2011, with the first prototype being rolled out on 2 November 2015; the maiden flight took place on 5 May 2017. On 29 September 2022 the C919 received its CAAC type certificate. The first production airframe was delivered to China Eastern Airlines on 9 December 2022 and was put into commercial passenger service on 28 May 2023.

The aircraft, primarily constructed with aluminium alloys, is powered by CFM International LEAP turbofan engines and carries 156 to 168 passengers in a normal operating configuration up to 5,555 km (3000 nmi; ). In 2023, COMAC announced that it would develop both a shortened and a stretched version of the passenger jet – similar to the sub-variants offered for the competing Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320neo family.

Naming

In the model number, the ''C'' stands for "Comac" and "China". The ''C'' also forms an "ABC" parallel situation with Airbus and Boeing. The following 9 refers to longevity as per Chinese culture and the following 19 refers to the seat capacity of 190.

Development

The 2008 program launch initially targeted a maiden flight in 2014. Comac applied for a type certificate for the aircraft from the Civil Aviation Authority of China on 28 October 2010. At that time the company intended to manufacture up to 2,300 aircraft of the type. In June 2011, COMAC and Irish low-cost airline Ryanair signed an agreement to co-operate on the development of the C919. In 2012 Airbus' chief strategist Marwan Lahoud assumed that the aircraft would offer competition to Airbus by 2020.

Preliminary design

On 24 November 2011, Comac announced the completion of the joint definition phase, marking the end of the preliminary design phase for the C919, with estimated completion of the detailed design phase in 2012. Production of the first C919 prototype began on 9 December 2011. The C919's aerodynamics were designed with the help of the Tianhe-2 supercomputer. The annual production was targeted at 150 planes by 2020. Canada's Bombardier Aerospace started collaborating in March 2012 on supply chain services, electrical systems, human interface, cockpit, flight training, flight-test support, sales, and marketing.

Prototyping

Its announced development budget was () but its actual cost was estimated at well over (). The first prototype was expected to complete final assembly in 2014 and perform its first flight in 2015; however, delivery was delayed again until 2018 due to technical difficulties and supply issues. At the November 2014 Zhuhai Airshow, it was announced that the first flight would be delayed to 2017. On 2 November 2015, Comac rolled out its first C919 aircraft.

In May 2018, the development of a composite wing completed in 2012 was revealed years after abandoning it for a metallic one, as static and damage tolerance tests were completed, verifying the structural design and strength before full-size composite wingbox tests.
On 12 July, the static test aircraft simulated a 2.5g manoeuvre with a 150% ultimate load, bending the wings at the tips by nearly three metres for three seconds.

US espionage allegations

According to a report from cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike and a US Justice Department indictment, from 2010 to 2015 the Chinese cyberthreat actor Turbine Panda, linked to the Ministry of State Security's Jiangsu Bureau, penetrated a number of the C919's foreign components manufacturers including Ametek, Capstone Turbine, GE Aviation, Honeywell, Safran, and others and stole intellectual property and industrial process data with the aim of transitioning component manufacturing to Chinese companies. The report stated that the operations involved both cyber intrusion and theft as well as human intelligence operations, in most cases using a piece of code custom written for this industrial espionage operation.
As of 2019, four people have been arrested in the US as a result of investigations into this economic espionage and theft of trade secrets.

In November 2022, a federal jury in Cincinnati convicted Yanjun Xu, 42, on counts of conspiracy to commit economic espionage, conspiracy to commit trade secret theft, attempted economic espionage and attempted trade secret theft. The US court found that Xu played a key role in a plot to steal trade secrets from western aerospace firms, for the purpose of helping the C919 commercial airliner program. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Flight testing

2017

High-speed taxi tests by the first C919 prototype were completed in April 2017 and the first flight took place on 5 May 2017. At the time, Comac had a planned test programme of 4,200 flight hours and introduction to service in 2020. It was estimated that this could be delayed into 2021.
The European Aviation Safety Agency was meant to validate the Chinese type certificate.
The 4,200 hours of testing planned were higher than the 3,000 hours typically required for the Airbus or Boeing narrowbodies, but lower than the 5,000 hours needed for the ARJ21.

Comac had its second prototype ready on 28 July 2017, aiming to fly it within the year for engine, APU, fuel system and extreme weather tests.
The flight-test plan included six aircraft.
On 28 September, it made its second flight at , which lasted 2 hours 46 minutes, although it was supposed to last one more hour.
The five-month delay between first and second flights, while the second prototype was being ground-tested, was extraordinary: in 2013 the Airbus A350 flew again after five days and in 2015 the troubled Mitsubishi MRJ flew again after eight days.

On 3 November, it made its third flight in 3h 45min, reaching .
It was transferred on 10 November from Shanghai to Xi'an to continue its flight test program, a 2h 24min, flight reaching and .

The second prototype made its first flight on 17 December 2017. The flight test program allocated the first three prototypes for aircraft performance and engine and power systems testing, the fourth prototype for avionics and electrical system, and the fifth and sixth prototypes for passenger facilities, including the cabin and information system.

2018

The delay between first and subsequent flights underlined the program immaturity by maiden flight: flying early at low speed and altitude is possible but faster and higher is limited by aeroelastic flutter needing ground vibration testing and aircraft instrumentation which were not ready in May.
Due to flight testing problems, the 2020 introduction previously scheduled was delayed to 2021, for China Eastern Airlines.
In February 2018, the first prototype was flying more than once a week.

In June 2018, Aviation Week reported flight-test aircraft grounding for modifications, extending the schedule by three months but maintaining a 2020 certification target.

In 2018, FlightGlobal forecast a total of 1,209 deliveries: 687 standard and 522 stretched variants, 85% of these in China. As of December 2024, all 16 operational C919 had carried more than one million revenue passengers. In May 2025, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said his airline might consider acquiring COMAC planes in lieu of their planned 737 MAX orders if the tariffs led to an increase in the price of Boeing planes.

The 125% duty imposed by China in April 2025 on American imports to China, in retaliation for US President Trump's tariff hikes, significantly raised the cost of Boeing jets being sold to Chinese airlines. Due to this financial burden, analysts believed that Chinese airlines might begin to lean stronger towards domestic alternatives like COMAC, or towards Airbus planes.

Deliveries and orders

Production capacity

In January 2023, COMAC said it wanted to expand its production capacity to 150 airliners per year within five years. For comparison: Airbus built an average of 424 planes of the A320neo family per year in the nine years to February 2025. In January 2025, the aircraft manufacturer stated that it hoped to deliver 30 planes in 2025 as it scales up its production, while in 2025 expanding general production capacity to a volume of up to 50 units per year.

Deliveries

The first C919 airframe intended for commercial service was delivered to launch customer China Eastern Airlines on 9 December 2022. The second, third, fourth, and fifth airframes were delivered to China Eastern on 14 July 2023, 9 December 2023, 29 December 2023, and 2 March 2024 respectively, thereby completing China Eastern's initial order. A sixth aircraft was delivered to China Eastern Airlines on 28 May 2024. The seventh and eighth aircraft for China Eastern Airlines were delivered to the company on 29 July 2024 and 30 September 2024 respectively. Air China and China Southern Airlines both received their first C919 aircraft on 28 August 2024.

An airframe with registration number "B-658M" was delivered to COMAC's dedicated charter operator Comac Express sometime in March 2025. The fourth airframe for China Southern Airlines (with registration number "B-658N") was delivered on 30 April 2025.

Orders

At the November 2010 Zhuhai Airshow, Comac announced orders for 55 C919 aircraft from 6 airlines, with an additional 45 options. The purchasing airlines or lessors included China Eastern Airlines, Air China, Hainan Airlines, China Southern Airlines, CDB Leasing Company, and GE Capital Aviation Services. On 19 October 2011, Chinese ICBC Leasing ordered 45 C919s and agreed to be the launch customer. On 11 November 2014, Comac announced at the 2014 Zhuhai Airshow that China Merchants Bank's aircraft leasing division made a firm commitment for 30 C919s, and that total orders were now up to 450 aircraft.

At the June 2015 Paris Air Show, Ping An Leasing signed a letter of intent (LOI) for 50 C919s, becoming one of Comac's largest customers, and Puren Group signed a letter of intent for seven C919s and seven ARJ21s, intended for the start-up Puren Airlines. In November 2016 COMAC received an order for 20 C919s including 5 firm from Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Financial Leasing and for 36 C919s from CITIC Group Financial Leasing including 18 firm. While no down payments for the order were needed before C919's maiden flight, 500,000 yuan ($76,000) nevertheless were deposited subsequently for each of the firm order. The 5 December 2017 ICBC Leasing order for 55 brought the order book to 785.

In February 2018, the total order book for the C919 stood at 815, prior to the order for 200 from HNA Group in June 2018 which also included an order for 100 ARJ21s. By August 2018, FlightGlobal counted 305 orders plus 45 options and 658 LOIs: commitments.

In January 2023, COMAC reported having received more than 1,200 orders. In September 2023, it was reported, however, that C919 orders had reached 1,061.

On 20 September 2023, Brunei GallopAir placed an order worth for 15 units of C919 and 15 units of ARJ21 jets. Once completed, this would make Brunei GallopAir the first non-Chinese & Southeast Asian operator of C919. In a stock exchange filing on 26 April 2024, Air China said that it had ordered 100 C919 aircraft, which would be delivered between 2024 and 2031, thereby adding another high-profile customer for the narrowbody programme.

On 21 November 2024, Chairman of Hong Kong Airlines, Yan Bo was reported to have told Hong Kong-based media that the airline is in plans of acquiring Comac's C919 aircraft following 12 months of sustained fleet growth and the resumption of long-haul flights especially to North America.

Potential buyers

Cancelled orders

Operators

Specifications

See also

Notes

References

External links

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Comac aircraft
2010s Chinese airliners
Twinjets
Low-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 2017
Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear