Skift Take

China's state-owned plane maker is presenting the COMAC C919 on the international stage with high hopes of stealing market share from Airbus and Boeing.

Ajay Awtaney, Skift

Visitors to last week’s Singapore Airshow witnessed a landmark moment: the international debut of China's C919 passenger jet.

Beijing is betting big that the new plane will shake up the dominance of Airbus and Boeing - but is it up to the challenge?

The C919 is an aircraft developed by COMAC, a state-owned firm founded in 2008 to develop passenger airliners. While its first product, the ARJ21, chalked up just 120 deliveries as of late 2023, there are higher hopes for the C919.

The plane made its first flight in 2017 after years of delays. At present, only the Civil Aviation Administration of China has certified the new jet to fly in passenger service. China Eastern Airlines started commercial operations with the C919 last year and currently has four in its fleet of more than 600 aircraft.

The C919 Goes International

Two units graced the biennial industry gathering in Singapore and COMAC is looking to garner international inte