China’s Comac Wins C919 Orders

Manila Bulletin
November 20, 2012

Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd. announced 50 commitments for the C919, the nation’s first large passenger jet, as it tries to break Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS’s stranglehold on the global aircraft market.

The agreements include five firm orders and five options from General Electric Co., doubling the backlog of the US company’s leasing arm. Two domestic carriers, Hebei Aviation Group and JoyAir, also reached agreements for 20 planes each, according to a statement distributed at the Zhuhai airshow in China.

The accords boost Shanghai-based Comac’s backlog for the 168-seat C919 to as many as 380, with contracts from state-backed Chinese companies masking a shortage of overseas orders. Boeing and Airbus have won a combined total of about 2,500 orders for new planes announced in the past two years that compete with the C919.

“Comac has a long way to go,” said David Wei, an aerospace analyst with Shanghai Securities Co. “Most foreign airlines will wait for overseas certification before considering the aircraft.”

The planemaker reiterated today that it expects the C919 to make its first flight in 2014 with deliveries starting two years later. At the same time, it said its smaller ARJ21 may not enter service for another two years. The regional jet, which has won orders from overseas carriers, is already about five years late.

The plane has been delayed by issues including the weather and difficulties in certification, Comac’s Chief Financial Officer Tian Min told reporters, without elaboration.

“The ARJ21 is a non-plane,” Richard Aboulafia, vice president at industry research Teal Group, in Fairfax, Virginia, said before the show. “It will never enter service.”