China certifies home-grown COMAC C919 narrowbody jet

China has certified the COMAC C919, China’s home-grown passenger jet to compete with the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 family of aircraft.

A photo posted by China Aviation Review on September 29, 2022, showed a photograph of a ceremony with a certificate being handed over. There was no official confirmation from the manufacturer or the country’s civil aviation regulator, the CAAC.

A Reuters report said it had been widely expected that the aircraft would be certified by the end of September after two C919s flew to Beijing on September 13, 2022.

The C919’s launch customer is China Eastern Airlines (CIAH) (CEA), which has said it expects to take delivery of one jet in 2022 and a further four in 2023.

The C919 was initially supposed to enter commercial service in 2016, but it was delayed multiple times due to technical difficulties and supply issues.

The C919 has a range of 4,075 to 5,555 kilometers and can carry up to 168 passengers. According to data from COMAC, 815 C919 provisional orders have been obtained from 28 customers.