China's answer to Boeing, Airbus makes first international flight today
What's the story
China's state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) is gearing up for a major milestone in commercial aviation. Air China will be operating the first international flight of its C919 passenger jet today. The aircraft will take off from Beijing Capital International Airport at 3:00pm (local time) and land in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capital, over two hours later. This marks a significant step in China's ambition to break into the global aviation market dominated by Boeing and Airbus.
Aircraft details
Significance of the flight
The C919, a narrow-body jet similar in size to Boeing 737, has been flying on domestic routes since 2023. However, today's flight will be its first commercial international journey.
Scott Kennedy, senior adviser at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said this is a PR move as Ulaanbaatar was chosen due to its proximity to Beijing.
He added that despite these efforts, the plane is years behind schedule and uses Western components while being less efficient than its competitors.
Aviation goals
Obsession with developing its own passenger jet
China has long aspired to develop its own passenger jet.
When the C919 was launched in 2015, Li Jiaxiang, then head of China's civil aviation authority, had said, "A great nation must have its own large commercial aircraft."
However, progress has been slow due to the complexity of integrating various advanced sciences and engineering disciplines in aviation.
An analysis from CSIS in 2020 revealed that over half of C919's suppliers were based in the US.
Market challenges
Limited success in selling C919 jets
Last year, Comac only delivered 15 units of the C919, far from its target of 75. The company mainly caters to Chinese domestic airlines.
In 2023, Brunei-based airline GallopAir signed a $2 billion deal with Comac for 30 planes including 15 C919s.
But the airline isn't commercially operational yet and the C919 hasn't received approval from European or American regulators.
Trade impact
US-China tensions over trade and technology
Amid the US-China trade war, the US reportedly restricted some exports to Comac for use in the C919 jet.
The two countries later reached a truce that is set to expire in November.
Despite these challenges, China considers developing its own commercial aircraft as a national security priority.
Zhang Yanzhong, a leading aviation expert who worked on the C919, warned that reliance on other countries for large aircraft technology would "threaten national strategic security."