China’s first home-grown airliner is seeking its first Western buyer as it takes advantage of Airbus and Boeing delays. Meet the Comac C919.

China’s small twin-engine plane first entered commercial service in 2016 with Chengdu Airlines. The C919 is the first large narrowbody made by China.

Reuters reported that both carriers signed orders for 100 C919s each in April 2024 and have since launched commercial flights. Beijing-based Air China ordered an extended-range version of the jet, which can fly about 3,500 miles nonstop.

The shorter-ranged version ordered by China Eastern and China Southern can fly up to about 2,500 miles.

According to Reuters, Comac may take advantage of Boeing and Airbus’ supply-chain constraints by securing a deal with Total Linhas Aereas, a small Brazilian charter and cargo carrier.

Paulo Almada, Total Linhas Aereas’s controlling partner, told Reuters that talks with Comac have been ongoing for months.

Reuters reported that Almada will visit Comac in October to discuss an order of up to four of its C919 jetliners. 

The C919, however, is a less advanced aircraft than the 737 and A320 families, boasting less range and power.

Still, Almada said the slow delivery pace of Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies has pushed it toward the Chinese-grown option. Airbus has seen a slowdown in production following supply chain issues, while Boeing is still facing scrutiny after the Alaska Airlines 737 Max blowout in January.

“The industry is dealing with supply shortages, but Comac told us they could deliver the aircraft by next March,” Almada told Reuters.

Years of technical difficulties and supply issues delayed the development.

Specifically, Comac was impacted by restrictions imposed by the Trump Administration in 2020 that blacklisted shipments of things like fight controls and jet engines. 

According to the Southern China Morning Post, the list price for the shorter-ranged C919 is about $99 million, and the longer-ranger version is about $108 million.

That compares to the list prices of the Boeing 737 Max 8 and the A320neo, which are about $122 million and about $110 million, respectively. However, jet pricing varies as airlines commonly get discounts when ordering in bulk.

Airlines flying C919 jets have fit cabins with economy and business class seating.

A high-density all-economy cabin could be advantageous to budget airlines, for example.

Chinese aerospace manufacturer Aero Engine Corporation of China, or AECC, is developing the CJ-1000A, a turbofan jet engine that it hopes will make its C919 truly Chinese-built.

However, SCMP reported in February that China has not had a great track record of building home-grown engines. It cited 2022 research from China’s civil-military integration platform that said mechanical failures and lackluster design were the biggest problems facing Chinese engine manufacturers.

Research from the state-owned China Construction Bank showed similar results.

“China’s aerospace engine industry, represented by AECC, basically has the development and production capabilities for various types of aero engines, but there is still a certain gap compared with [those produced by] advanced Western countries,” the bank said, per SCMP.

China has been accused of launching a multi-year hacking operation to acquire the intellectual property of the foreign companies that supply parts for the jet, according to a CrowdStrike report published in 2019 and a Department of Justice indictment.

Reuters reported Comac plans to expand the production of its C919s to 150 a year over the next five years as it continues to seek overseas buyers and earn international certification.

“Once completed, the project will meet the future mass production needs of the C919 program, providing strong support for the commercial operation and market competitiveness of China’s domestically-produced large aircraft,” the company said, per Reuters.