China's homegrown C919 jet set for its first international flight
Chinese manufacturer Comac's C919 passenger jet will fly its first international commercial route on Wednesday, from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar. Analysts say the plane still has a long way to go before challenging Boeing and Airbus globally.
A passenger jet built by China's state-owned manufacturer Comac is set to fly its first international commercial route on Wednesday, departing Beijing at 3pm and arriving in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar just over two hours later aboard an Air China flight.
The C919, comparable in size to the Boeing 737, has operated domestic routes for Chinese airlines since 2023. It has been promoted as China's answer to the Boeing-Airbus duopoly, though industry observers caution that meaningfully challenging that dominance could take generations.
Reliance on foreign suppliers persists
Scott Kennedy, a senior adviser at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, described the flight as largely a public relations exercise, noting the jet arrived years behind schedule, relies heavily on Western-made components, and is less efficient than its Boeing and Airbus rivals. A 2020 CSIS analysis found more than half of the C919's suppliers were based in the US.
Comac reportedly delivered only 15 units last year, far short of its target of 75, and did not respond to a request for comment. The aircraft has not been approved by European or American regulators. Its only foreign customer so far is Brunei-based GallopAir, which signed a $2bn deal in 2023 for 30 planes, including 15 C919s, though the airline is not yet operating commercially.
Last year the US briefly suspended exports of certain components to Comac amid the US-China trade war, before the two sides agreed a truce set to expire in November. During a May visit to Beijing, US President Donald Trump secured a Chinese commitment to buy 200 Boeing jets in exchange for supply guarantees on engine parts.
Zhang Yanzhong, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering who worked on the C919, said dependence on other countries for large aircraft technology threatens national strategic security, while acknowledging there was still a long way to go before achieving commercial success.
