Reporter Yang Rangchen and Quartz Jing report from Shanghai.
China Eastern's first C919 arrived in Singapore in the early morning of February 17 local time. Interviewee Figure).
A few days ago, the domestic large aircraft C919 made its "debut" overseas for the first time.
China Business Daily" reporter from China Eastern Airlines (600115SH) learned that at 1:49 local time on February 17, China Eastern Airlines' world's first C919 large aircraft arrived at Singapore Changi International Airport after nearly 6 hours and about 4,200 kilometers of direct flight, preparing to participate in the 2024 Singapore International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition to be held in Singapore from February 20 to 25. Previously, China Eastern Airlines' world's first C919 aircraft carried out the MU299 shunting flight on February 16, Beijing time, and took off from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport at 20:04.
The reporter noted that in addition to China Eastern Airlines' C919 will be exhibited at the Singapore International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition, a C919 (registration number B-001F) large aircraft and an ARJ (registration number B-3222) aircraft of COMAC and an ARJ21 passenger aircraft of Indonesia Lingya Airlines and an ARJ cargo plane of Zhongyuan Longhao Airlines, a total of 5 domestic aircraft will be exhibited at the same time, which is the first time that China's domestic commercial aircraft has appeared in an overseas "group".
Relevant information shows that the C919 large passenger aircraft is the first jet trunk airliner developed by China in accordance with international airworthiness standards and has independent intellectual property rights, with a seat class of 158-192 seats and a flight range of 4075-5555 kilometers. On December 9, 2022, July 16, 2023 and December 9, 2023, China Eastern Airlines received three aircraft one after another. As of December 12, 2023, C919 has carried out about 580 flights since its commercial operation on May 28, 2023, with a cumulative passenger volume of nearly 720,000 people.
It is worth noting that in September 2023, China Eastern Airlines once again signed a purchase agreement with COMAC in Shanghai, and China Eastern Airlines will order 100 more C919 large passenger aircraft on the basis of the first batch of 5 aircraft signed in 2021. In December 2023, China Eastern Airlines took delivery of the third C919 and commenced commercial operation on December 13, 2023.
According to the "COMAC Market ** Annual Report (2022-2041)", in 2022-2041, the world will receive 30,367 single-aisle passenger aircraft, and the market size of single-aisle passenger aircraft will reach 364 trillion US dollars, about 25 yuan86 trillion yuan, an average of 129 trillion yuan.
According to the analysis of relevant research reports of China Post, C919 will be among the trillion market in the future and is expected to be sold abroad. "In accordance with international practice, the export of aircraft shall meet the airworthiness requirements of the importing country. On the basis of the airworthiness approval of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the C919 can obtain the airworthiness approval of the Civil Aviation Administration of the importing country through bilateral airworthiness. At present, China has signed bilateral airworthiness agreements with 32 countries and regions, including the United States and Europe, providing a good bilateral environment for domestic civil aircraft to enter the international market. ”
At the same time, the pace of production and delivery of C919 is also expected to accelerate. Wei Yingbiao, deputy general manager of COMAC, previously said in an interview that in the future, C919 will soon reach an annual production capacity of 30-50 aircraft. Zhang Yujin, deputy general manager of COMAC, also said in an interview in January 2023 that the production capacity of C919 will reach 150 aircraft within five years.
Editor: Quartz Jing Proofreader: Chen Li).