Summary
- China Eastern Airlines introduces second COMAC C919 jet into industrial service, boosting efforts to strengthen domestic aircraft manufacturing industry.
- The C919 will initially operate on popular Shanghai to Chengdu route, with future plans to expand to other domestic destinations.
- While China Eastern goals to have a Chinese-built fleet, nearly all of its current fleet consists of Boeing and Airbus jets. COMAC needs to draw orders from legacy carriers outside of China for the C919’s success.
On 2 August 2023, China Eastern Airlines announced that it had introduced a second COMAC C919 passenger jet into regular industrial service. Consistent with China’s goal to strengthen its domestic aircraft manufacturing industry, the announcement comes as a powerful victory for each the COMAC and C919 programs.
The aircraft will join the primary C919 in industrial service on China Eastern’s popular route from the carrier’s Shanghai base to Chengdu, within the nation’s Sichuan Province. Eventually, the airline goals to deploy future C919s on routes to destinations equivalent to Xi’an in Shaanxi Province, Kunming in Yunnan Province, and Guangzhou and Shenzhen within the Guangdong Province.
The primary C919 made its first industrial flight on 28 May of this 12 months, traveling between Shanghai and Beijing. The one home-built airliner in China Eastern’s current fleet, the C919 has accomplished 87 flights up to now as of 1 July. The aircraft operated with a load factor of nearly 80%, carrying over 11,000 passengers during its first 250 hours of flight operation.
What does this mean for China Eastern?
China Eastern operates a completely massive fleet of over 690 jets, only two of that are currently Chinese built-aircraft. Despite the introduction of now two C919s, the state-owned airline still has significant steps to take to attain its goal of getting a Chinese-built fleet.
The carrier currently has 18 units of the C919 on order, with China News Service indicating that they may purchase three more over the course of this 12 months. The airline also maintains an order for 35 of COMAC’s ARJ21-700, with the earliest deliveries scheduled to happen in early 2025.
Despite this, nevertheless, the backbone of China Eastern’s long and short-haul fleets is comprised almost entirely of Boeing and Airbus jets. The carrier currently operates over 300 A320 family aircraft, with an order for 90 A320neos and 68 A321neos on the best way. On the long-haul side, the airline flies A330, A350, Boeing 777-300ER, and Boeing 787-9 jets, with additional orders for two A350-900 and a pair of 787-9 aircraft placed.
What does this mean for COMAC?
COMAC has now delivered its second unit of the C919 to a industrial airline, albeit one owned by the identical entity as COMAC: the Chinese government. COMAC’s order book for the C919 is impressive for such a young manufacturer; nevertheless, it can be crucial to notice that just about all of the jet’s orders have come from Chinese state-owned airlines, banks, or other government-backed entities.
Photo: COMAC
Recently, Irish lessor Aercap ordered 20 units of the C919, marking a few of the first interest within the jet from outside of China. For the C919 to ultimately succeed, COMAC might want to attract interest and ultimately firm orders from legacy carriers in other countries.