According to photos on social media, China held a certification ceremony for the C919 narrow-body airliner on Thursday (29th), the country’s challenge to Airbus and Boeing in commercial aviation (BA-US) another major milestone of its ambitions.
Two of the planes, produced by state-owned manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), flew to Beijing on Sept. 13, raising expectations for the model to be certified by the end of the month. One of the photos reads “C919 Model Certificate Issuance Ceremony” in Chinese.
Introduced 14 years ago and designed to carry up to 168 passengers, the C919 will compete with the popular Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX series in the world’s second-largest aviation market as China looks to increase its technological autonomy amid trade tensions .
Although the plane is assembled in China, it relies heavily on GE (GE-US), Safran and Honeywell International (HON US) and other Western parts, including engines and avionics.
Strict U.S. export licensing rules lead to delays in parts procurement, which remains a major risk to ramping up production until China switches to homegrown technology to replace foreign engines and parts.
Richard Aboulafia, general manager of AeroDynamic Advisory in the United States, said the plane appeared to be a relic of a bygone era of China’s growing integration with the West.
“So the plane is ostensibly Chinese, but it’s actually powered by Western technology and systems,” he said. “It may take more than a decade and tens of billions of dollars to turn it into a real Chinese plane. .”
