Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) has announced that a deal has been finalized with HNA Aviation Group for 100 aircraft.
HNA Aviation Group signed a firm order for 60 COMAC C919 aircraft and an ‘intentional order’ for 40 ARJ1s at an event attended by executives from COMAC, members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as well as leaders from Hainan Airlines, Suparna Airlines, and Urumqi Airlines.
“This is an important measure for the two sides to thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions on the large aircraft industry, resolutely implement the central decision-making and deployment, and accelerate the construction of a new development pattern with domestic and international cycles as the mainstay and mutual promotion of domestic and international dual cycles,” read a statement by COMAC announcing the order on April 27, 2023.
COMAC delivered the first commercial C919 to China Eastern Airlines in December 2022. However, the aircraft has rarely flown since the delivery. In February 2023 it operated only eight flights, and March 2023, just one. Its last flight was on March 22, 2023, when it appeared briefly on radars following its departure from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA).
Meanwhile, Indonesia-based TransNusa became the first international operator of the ARJ21, flying from Jakarta Soekarno Hatta International Airport (CGK) to Denpasar Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS), Bali, Indonesia on April 18, 2023, having continued active service since.
Following the bankruptcy of its parent company HNA Group, HNA Aviation Group was sold off to Liaoning Fangda Group Industrial in December 2021, which includes such airlines as Hainan Airlines, Lucky Air, Tianjin Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines, Beijing Capital Airlines, Fuzhou Airlines, Urumqi Air, among others.