Now Reading: China’s C919 makes first international flight, challenges Boeing-Airbus duopoly
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China’s C919 makes first international flight, challenges Boeing-Airbus duopoly
China’s C919 makes first international flight, challenges Boeing-Airbus duopoly
China's homegrown COMAC C919 completed its first scheduled international commercial passenger flight on August 12, flying from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. The aircraft, operated by Air China, will now run daily…
The Story in Brief
China's homegrown COMAC C919 completed its first scheduled international commercial passenger flight on August 12, flying from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. The aircraft, operated by Air China, will now run daily on this route. Until now, the C919 had flown only on domestic routes within China since entering commercial service in 2023. The milestone demonstrates the aircraft has met operational requirements for regular cross-border travel, English Mathrubhumi reports.
The C919 is a single-aisle jet that competes directly with the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320neo, carrying up to 174 passengers. However, COMAC has delivered only about 32 C919 aircraft by end of 2025, far behind the thousands Boeing and Airbus have supplied globally. The aircraft's engines, CFM International LEAP, are still made by a US-French joint venture, not by Chinese firms.
The Indian Opinion
Indian readers hear two lazy narratives around the C919: either that China has already cracked civil aviation, or that the plane is a sham because parts are foreign. The truth is humbler. A single international route does not make COMAC a rival to Boeing or Airbus, it lacks production scale, a global certification network, and a homegrown engine. But dismissing it as a fake ignores how Beijing used its domestic market to reach this point. The real test will come when COMAC tries to sell the C919 outside China and secure approvals from Western regulators.
Source: english.mathrubhumi.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
