China’s home-built passenger jet C919 could be certified by Sept 19, close to starting commercial flights – state media
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China’s home-built passenger jet C919 could be certified by Sept 19, close to starting commercial flights – state media
STOCKS

China’s home-built passenger jet C919 could be certified by Sept 19, close to starting commercial flights – state media

 

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China’s homebuilt single-aisle passenger jet, the C919, aimed at rivaling planes made by Airbus SE and Boeing Co., could be certified by Chinese regulators as early as Sept. 19, China’s state media reported Tuesday.

The long-awaited granting of an airworthiness certificate for the jet built by Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, or Comac, is expected imminently after data from two C919s landing in Beijing on Tuesday in their first visit to the city’s main airport.

The planes, with the registration numbers of B-001F and B-001J, flew from the Shanghai Pudong International Airport and arrived at the Beijing Capital International Airport at 10:51 am and 11:24 am, according to flight information provider VariFlight.

The C919 is expected to be certified soon, reported state media Global Times citing an insider close to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Tuesday, adding that the plane is close to starting commercial flights.

It may win a type certificate (TC) and a production certificate (PC) at the same time, the report said, citing Wang Ya’nan, chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine. After the flight test and other verification stages, it will receive its airworthiness certificate – the final step before commercial flight.

There are three certificates required for the delivery of an aircraft in China – a TC, which indicates that the model design of the aircraft meets requirements; a PC, which indicates that the manufacturing of the aircraft meets national standards, and an AC, which means the aircraft is safe to operate, which are all granted by the CAAC, and all three are needed for commercial operations.

The Beijing-based media China Times reported that the C919 is expected to gain the AC on September 19, or 9/19, a day with symbolic meaning.

Since July, frequent test flights have been carried out at many domestic airports, which analysts said built up experience for routes among domestic airports.  Data from VariFlight showed that the C919 has flown to 18 cities in China in 2022.