China's First Locally Made Airliner Shines Internationally in Singapore Airshow

Beijing's investment its domestic aviation industry has spurred the development of COMAC's C919, gearing up to give Airbus and Boeing a run for their money.

China's domestically-produced C919 aircraft has made its first flight beyond Chinese borders, showcasing a fly-by at the Singapore Airshow on Sunday.

The narrow-body, short-to-medium haul airliner, produced by China's Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), seeks to rival the global dominance of the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 in the passenger aircraft market.

Industry insiders highlight that four C919s are currently operating in China. Though certified by Chinese regulators, it is dependent on international supply chains for a variety of foreign-made parts — unlike the latest all-Russian version of the Sukhoi Superjet 100. The airliner entered service with China Eastern Airlines in 2023.

According to a company official, the next three to five years will see COMAC channeling tens of billions of yuan into expanding plane's production capacity. The firm began the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) validation process for the C919 in 2018 to meet international standards and boost foreign partnerships.

COMAC's passenger aircraft portfolio includes the ARJ21 regional jet and the bigger C919 twin-engine narrow-body plane, designed for 158-192 passengers, competing with Airbus A320neo and troubled Boeing 737 MAX 8 models. In December 2023, the C919 made its inaugural flight outside mainland China to Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Indonesia's TransNusa Air operates ARJ21s.

"With Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies in the A320neo and 737 MAX families sold out for most of this decade, the C919 has a strong opportunity to gain market share, particularly in its domestic market," said Mike Yeomans of aviation consultancy IBA.

Despite the aviation industry's supply constraints and challenging expectations for the return and growth of civil capacity in Asia, the Chinese aerospace firm is attracting increasing attention.

Amidst Airbus and Boeing's efforts to boost production and address a large order backlog, Boeing contends with manufacturing quality control problems stemming from an incident in January, where an emergency door panel detached from a 737 Max 9 passenger aircraft. Observers in the aviation industry are keenly monitoring COMAC's efforts to establish itself as a competitive alternative.

"We have also seen a growing trend where clients are including the C919 option in their fleet evaluation," said Adam Cowburn of Alton Aviation Consultancy.