China has opened a new route for its domestic narrow-body passenger plane, the C919. This will expand its commercial base, strengthen the country’s promotion in civil aviation, and contribute to achieving its future economic goals. Year.
The Chinese government is also positioning the wide-body C929 jet as a break from the current monopoly of industry giants Boeing and Airbus, with plans to build a manufacturing hub in Hangzhou this year for the airliner under development. . The project was officially announced in an announcement made by the city, the capital of Zhejiang province, last month.
China Eastern’s C919 narrow-body aircraft, which first entered commercial service in May last year, will begin flying on new routes on Friday, according to China Eastern’s online ticket booking system.
The aircraft will fly twice daily between Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Xi’an Xianyang International Airport, and its addition to the airline’s route map comes on the heels of the addition of a fifth C919 to its fleet on Saturday. It was conducted.
China has made the C919 a symbol of its entry into the highly sophisticated and competitive civil aviation sector, as part of an overall plan to prove its capabilities in advanced manufacturing, driven primarily by extensive technological competition with the United States. We are working.
Premier Li Qiang’s work report, released on Tuesday during the annual meeting of the country’s top parliament and political advisory body known as the “Second Meeting”, identified industry development as a key goal for the new year.
And in an effort to boost international sales and exposure, the plane’s manufacturer, the state-run Civil Aviation Corporation of China (Comac), brought the jet to last month’s Singapore Air Show for its overseas debut.
China’s C919 spreads its wings in Singapore, international bow wins 40 orders
China’s C919 spreads its wings in Singapore, international bow wins 40 orders
However, industry experts who attended the two sessions said the Chinese government still needs to step up its campaign for widespread adoption of the aircraft at home and abroad.
Li Yangmin, general manager of China Eastern Airlines and member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, submitted a proposal to the advisory body saying the next step should be to “continue to improve the core competitiveness” of the C919. did. Commercial jet operations.
“More comprehensive support is needed to make Chinese aircraft more competitive at the global level,” Li said in an official statement. “More efforts are needed to develop aircraft repair systems, operational insurance, and commercial operations to succeed in the market.”
Recent sales agreed with Tibet Airlines last month include a new C919 aircraft suited for high altitudes, suggesting the airline is working on a wider range of models.
For Chinese-made aircraft to be widely adopted, product technology and supply chain need to be addressed.
Mr. Xiang Xiaomin of Hunan Aeronautical Power Plant Research Institute also attended two meetings as a representative of the National People’s Congress, the highest legislative body, and shared similar views, saying that C919 sales will access the world’s aviation power plants. The commercial aviation market, he said, is just the “first step” to the future.
“For Chinese-made aircraft to be widely adopted, we need to work on product technology and supply chain,” Xiang said. “We need autonomy in the development of engines, aircraft systems, avionics systems, seats and even ground systems so that we can drive related industries.”
Although the C919 has been touted as a domestically produced jet, many parts were produced by foreign suppliers. Officials said the jet was a demonstration of “win-win” cooperation through global collaboration, but it comes as the U.S. government has imposed significant trade restrictions on top-end technologies, including for aviation applications. The country is currently facing pressure to increase its next-generation manufacturing capacity.
To advance this goal, Comac said at an industry forum last December that it aims to design and manufacture half of its C929 structural composites domestically.
