The Gifts of Christmas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gift of love. The gift of peace. The gift of happiness. May all these be yours at Christmas! 

 

Merry Christmas, everybody!

 

China’s first home-grown passenger jet, the C919 already operates on 15 routes and serves 10 major cities across the country as domestic airlines move swiftly to deploy the new aircraft. 

 

The aircraft, seen as a symbol of China’s achievements in tech and advanced manufacturing, also hit a new milestone on Thursday, carrying a total of 1 million passengers since its maiden commercial flight in May 2023. 

 

The rapid roll-out will be a key test for the C919 as it strives to prove itself a reliable alternative to Boeing and Airbus’ single-aisle models, with more frequent flights posing challenges from deployment to maintenance. 

 

“More flights between more cities mean real tests for the jet, but it can also raise its profile”, said Li Hanming, an aviation consultant. 

 

COMAC hope the C919’s rapidly increasing network coverage and visibility will help their bid to be certified by Western regulators. 

 

“The more carriers buy it and the more people fly on it, the more foreign regulators will be convinced of its reliability”, said a manager at COMAC, who declined to be named citing company policy. 

 

The C919 is currently being evaluated by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for a critical certification that COMAC will need to obtain if they are to start pitching the jet to overseas buyers.