The Civil Aviation Administration of China has awarded the Commercial Aviation Corporation of China (COMAC) with a production certificate for domestically made C919 narrow-body aircraft, according to Chinese media.
The state-owned aerospace manufacturer is now allowed to begin mass production of the C919 under an approved quality control system, The Paper reported on November 29, 2022.
Prior to receiving the recent approval, COMAC had to request authorization from the local regulator for each jet of the type it manufactured. However, since the restriction does not apply to COMAC anymore, the company reportedly plans to build up to 25 C919s each year by 2030.
The plane, which is considered a rival to narrow-body single-aisle planes such as the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320neo, received its type certificate from the CAAC on September 29, 2022. According to the manufacturer, the C919 is the first passenger aircraft to be fully developed by a Chinese entity “in accordance with internationally accepted airworthiness standards” and “with independent intellectual property rights”.
COMAC claimed the domestically produced plane won at least 300 firm orders from leasing companies and banks during the Zhuhai Airshow in November 2022, including CDB Financial Leasing, ICBC, and CCB, as well as Bank of Communications Financial Leasing, China Merchants Bank, SPDB and Suyin Financial Leasing.
COMAC’s website shows that the aircraft, which can seat between 158 and 168 passengers for a range of between 4,075 and 5,555 kilometers, amassed 815 orders from 28 different customers.