Comac C919 Delivery Targets Reduced Due to Production Challenges
Chinese aircraft manufacturer Comac has been compelled to revise its delivery goals for the C919 narrowbody twinjet family, reducing its expectations significantly due to slower-than-anticipated production rates. By 2025, the company is only planning to deliver about a third of the C919 aircraft initially scheduled.
Company Overview
- Date Founded: May 11, 2008
- CEO: He Dongfeng
- Headquarters: Shanghai, China
- Key Products: Comac ARJ21, C919, C929
This development represents a setback for Comac’s program, which is seen as China’s prime opportunity to penetrate the narrowbody market dominated by industry giants Airbus and Boeing. Currently, orders remain domestic, though this could soon evolve.
Current Delivery Expectations
Initially, Comac aimed to deliver 75 units of its C919 aircraft in the new year, equating to roughly one aircraft every five days. However, reports suggest this estimate has been cut by two-thirds, with only 25 expected deliveries by the end of 2025 due to supply chain bottlenecks.
“The C919 aircraft is the first jet-type trunk airliner independently developed by China in accordance with international airworthiness standards and owning independent intellectual property rights. The C919 has a layout of 158 to 192 seats, and a range of 4,075 to 5,555 kilometers.”
Production Obstacles
The three leading airlines operating the Comac C919—Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines—collectively anticipated receiving 32 C919 planes by 2025; however, only five were delivered this year as of September. The initial goal of delivering 75 aircraft, set in March after being raised from 50, was impacted by various complications, including:
- Temporary restrictions on exporting CFM engines due to US-China trade tensions.
- Dependency on foreign parts, including components from Honeywell and GE Aerospace.
Current Fleet Status
Data from ch-aviation indicates that China Eastern Airlines is the largest C919 operator, with 11 aircraft and 95 more on order. Air China holds five jets with an additional 100 orders, and China Southern Airlines has five aircraft with 95 orders pending. Suparna Airlines and Tibet Airlines have two and 40 orders respectively. Despite interest from international carriers, no foreign airlines have currently formalized orders for the C919, though discussions with Ryanair and AirAsia continue.
According to Cirium’s scheduling data, there are 2,167 scheduled flights for the C919 this month, totaling 350,056 seats and 265,654,842 available seat miles, primarily operated by China Eastern, China Southern, and Air China, with Hong Kong as the sole destination outside China.
