Comac’s Homegrown Aircraft Goes Global

In March, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (中国商用飞机; Comac) embarked on its first overseas demonstration tour throughout Southeast Asia (Xinhua Daily Telegraph, February 24). The state-owned company showcased its new single-aisle aircraft, the C919, at a series of airshows in Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. For the first time, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) set a goal for the C919 to “go abroad (出国门)” in 2024 (People’s Daily, March 24).

Several headwinds could hinder Comac’s efforts to enter the international aviation market, despite the C919’s potential. Comac’s production capacity remains limited and, so far, the company has only delivered five C919s to domestic airlines (China News, April 28, 2024). Before exporting its products, Comac will need to secure overseas airworthiness licenses and build out a transnational network of service and repair centers. Finally, despite efforts to wean itself off western technology, Comac remains highly dependent on imported components. This leaves it vulnerable to geopolitical risk. As a result, the C919 is unlikely to rival incumbents like Airbus’ A320 and Boeing’s 737 for years to come.

The C919’s first overseas tour was intended to “lay the foundation for future market development in Southeast Asia,” according to Comac’s spokesperson (People’s Daily Online, March 14). The region is a natural launchpad for the C919, since thousands of weekly flights transit to and from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) within the plane’s navigable range (China Daily, January 29). By 2041, Comac forecasts the Asia-Pacific to become the world’s fourth largest commercial aviation market behind the PRC, Europe, and North America, with a fleet of nearly 9,000, mostly single-aisle, aircraft (Comac, November 13, 2022).

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