Key points:
- U.S. and Europe now have competition for the narrow-body jet market
- New Chinese entrant is now a step closer to entry into service
- The COMAC narrow-body aircraft has been priced at circa $99 million USD
The U.S. and Europe now have competition for the narrow-body jet market.
The new Chinese entrant is now a step closer to entry into service.
The C919 jet developed by Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd. – COMAC, was test flown for about three hours on the 14th May ahead of its near term delivery to its first customer.
The narrow-body aircraft has been priced at circa $99 million USD – according to a filing this week by Shanghai-based China Eastern Airline Corp., which has signed a deal to buy five of those passenger jets.
The test flight brings China’s homegrown passenger jet maker a step closer to challenging the duopoly of Airbus and Boeing in the global commercial aircraft market. Comac started development of the C919 in 2008, but missed the previous deadline of delivering its first aircraft by the end of 2021.
While the C919 marks China’s effort to take a share of the market and reduce reliance on Airbus and Boeing, the aircraft still depends on foreign companies like General Electric Co. for many critical parts.
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