China strives to bring 'homemade' aircraft abroad

According to the South China Morning Post on January 4, this is considered part of China's efforts to attract more international recognition for the C919, and compete with giant aircraft manufacturing corporations such as Boeing (headquartered in the US) and Airbus (headquartered in France).

At the annual industry conference held in Beijing on January 4, a representative of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said that it will increase cooperation efforts with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to allow domestic civil aircraft of this country to "go abroad".

The information was also posted on CAAC News, a publication owned by China's aviation regulator.

Trung Quốc nỗ lực đưa máy bay 'nhà làm' ra nước ngoài- Ảnh 1. — The C919 aircraft flies over Victoria Harbour on its first journey out of mainland China on December 16, 2023.

The C919 has been in commercial operation in China since May 2023 but has only just been certified by the country's government regulatory agency.

Manufactured by state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), the C919 is designed to compete with Boeing's 737 and Airbus's A320.

CAAC has bilateral aviation safety agreements with EASA and the US Federal Aviation Administration to allow Chinese-made aerospace products to be exported to the US and the European Union. The terms are based on mutual recognition of respective procedures.

Under the agreement, regulators will work together to confirm the airworthiness of an aircraft design.

CAAC also aims to focus on resolving many bottlenecks and bottlenecks related to technical equipment, production processes and operating systems to minimize risks in the long-term development of the industry.

The C919's main components come from a variety of foreign companies, with engines manufactured by CFM International, a joint venture between US-based GE Aerospace and France's Safran Aircraft Engines.

In another development, on January 2, Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines confirmed that it had received its fourth C919. According to plans, this aircraft will soon be put into commercial operation, CGTN reported.

The newly delivered aircraft is one of five that China Eastern Airlines ordered in the first batch in 2021. The third was delivered in early December 2023.

As of December 31, 2023, China Eastern Airlines' C919 aircraft had conducted 655 commercial flights, carrying nearly 82,000 passengers, since its first flight took off on May 28, 2023.

In September 2023, China Eastern Airlines purchased another 100 C919 aircraft from COMAC. This is also the largest order for this type of jet. The deliveries are expected to be divided into several batches, from 2024 to 2031.

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