Chinese passenger jet C919 made a trial flight Sunday in Singapore to prepare for the upcoming airshow.
Five aircraft developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd., including C919, will meet the public at the airshow, said China Eastern Airlines Singapore Branch. C919 will perform flight demonstrations at the Singapore Airshow 2024, which will last from Feb. 20 to Feb. 25.
COMAC will invest tens of billions of yuan over the next 3-5 years to expand C919 production capacity, Chinese media reported a COMAC official saying in January.
China’s aviation authority said last month it would this year pursue European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) validation for the C919, a process which began in 2018.
The C919 was one of two commercial planemakers flying their planes off Singapore’s coast alongside Airbus at a Sunday preview for Asia’s biggest air show. Boeing will not display a commercial aircraft this year.
“With Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies in the A320neo and 737 MAX families sold out for most of this decade, the C919 has a strong opportunity to gain market share, particularly in its domestic market,” said Mike Yeomans of aviation consultancy IBA.
“The immediate challenges for COMAC are around production to meet local demand and certification to penetrate international markets,” Yeomans added.
