China's domestically developed C919 aircraft has sped up its commercialization process in the past year, with the model already being used to connect 10 domestic destinations. In 2025, the C919 is expected to be put into use on more routes and cities and contribute to the fast growth of the air transportation market.
The single-aisle C919 jetliner, comparable to the narrow-body Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 series, has transported more than 1 million passengers since the model entered commercial operations on May 28, 2023, said Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, manufacturer of the C919.
So far, the C919 has netted more than 1,000 orders from home and abroad, and COMAC has delivered 14 aircraft to three State-owned carriers — Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines. They together operate 14 C919 aircraft on 15 domestic routes.
Shanghai-based China Eastern, the model's launch customer, operates nine C919 jetliners on eight routes. The carrier has operated more than 6,200 flights and transported more than 850,000 passengers using the aircraft.
Air China operates the C919 planes on four domestic routes connecting Beijing; Shanghai; Hangzhou, Zhejiang province; Chengdu, Sichuan province; and Wuhan, Hubei province, the company said.
"After the C919 was put into commercial use, it has received a lot of support from passengers, and the model's passenger load factor is significantly higher than many other aircraft models," Wu Guanghui, chief designer of the C919 aircraft, said during a recent industry conference in Shanghai.
"The research and development of aircraft are an industry requiring patience. Despite the road being long, we must be patient, consistent, down-to-earth and ambitious," Wu said.
China's large aircraft industry has always relied on self-innovation and international cooperation. There are 24 provinces and cities, over 1,000 companies and more than 300,000 staff members in China participating in the R&D of home-developed aircraft, including the C909, C919 and C929 models, Wu said.
Globally, 23 countries and regions and more than 500 suppliers have participated in the development of the above-mentioned aircraft models. International cooperation has driven the growth of China's aviation industry and the development of the world's aviation sector, he added.
In another development, the C929 jet, with 280 seats and a flying range of up to 12,000 kilometers, is currently in its preliminary design stage.
Air China is expected to become the world's first carrier to use the C929, after the airline signed a framework agreement with COMAC during the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, in November.
China's civil aviation market has experienced rapid growth so far this year and domestic carriers have transported a record number of over 700 million passengers through domestic and international flights. The figure is up by 10.7 percent over pre-pandemic levels in 2019, said the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
Over the next 20 years, China is expected to become the world's largest civil aviation market with demand for 9,323 new commercial aircraft. The annual growth rate of passenger turnover is foreseen to reach 5.3 percent, COMAC projects.
Meanwhile, European aircraft maker Airbus has forecast that by 2043, China will have 11,160 aircraft in service, of which 9,520 are new deliveries, including passenger aircraft and freighters. China accounts for 20 percent of global demand, and the new generation of digital aircraft will account for the main proportion among fleets.
As the global air travel market continues to expand in the post-pandemic era, the C919 is working to break the market duopoly of Boeing and Airbus and is expected to help meet growing travel demand.
"The importance of developing the C919 for the civil aviation market lies in providing global airlines with a third option," said Lin Zhijie, a civil aviation industry analyst.
"More importantly, the C919 has a more profound significance for China's high-end manufacturing industry by creating an annual output value of trillions of yuan and driving breakthroughs in a group of high-precision and cutting-edge manufacturing technologies," Lin said.
In February, the C919 made its debut at the Singapore Airshow, its first appearance at an overseas air show, and industry players expect the model will gain more new orders from overseas carriers.
To enter the international market in the future and form a more balanced situation among three major manufacturers, several major breakthroughs are needed for the C919.
First, the C919 needs to obtain airworthiness certifications from the European Union and the United States, key to entering the international market. Without such certifications, the model can still be sold overseas, but such documentation can help the model enter foreign markets faster and more extensively. In addition, the ramp-up of production capacity and mass production of the C919 are also critical for the model to enter the global market, Lin said.
Currently, the maximum monthly production capacity of narrow-body aircraft from Boeing and Airbus is about 60 to 70, but the production capacity of the C919 is less than 10 aircraft a year.
In addition, a safe record of operation of the aircraft model is important for it to be recognized by global users and trusted by passengers. This requires time accumulation and the joint efforts and cooperation of all entities in the entire industry chain. The improvement of the aircraft model's economic performance also counts, Lin added.
Looking ahead to 2025, the global airline sector is expected to show a slight strengthening of profitability amid ongoing cost and supply chain challenges, the International Air Transport Association said in December.
In 2025, total industry revenues are expected to reach $1.01 trillion, up 4.4 percent from 2024, marking the first time that revenue in the sector tops the $1 trillion mark, IATA projected.
Passenger numbers are expected to reach 5.2 billion in 2025, a 6.7 percent rise compared to 2024 and the first time that the number of passengers exceeds the 5 billion mark, IATA said.
"We are expecting airlines to deliver a global profit of $36.6 billion in 2025," said Willie Walsh, IATA's director-general.
"This will be hard-earned as airlines take advantage of lower oil prices while keeping load factors above 83 percent, tightly controlling costs, investing in decarbonization, and managing the return to more normal growth levels following the extraordinary pandemic recovery," Walsh said.
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