The Comac C919 is a planned family of 158-174 seat narrow-body airliners to be built by
the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China. It will be the largest commercial airliner
designed and built in China since the defunct Shanghai Y-10. Its first flight is expected
to take place in 2015, with first deliveries scheduled for late 2018.
The C919 forms part of China's long-term goal to break Airbus and Boeing's duopoly, and
is intended to compete against Airbus A320, Boeing 737 and Russian MS-21. As a long term
plan the twin‑engine, twin aisle C929 and C939 are proposed, offering 300 and 400 seats,
respectively.
Development Comac applied for a type certificate for the
aircraft from the Civil Aviation Authority of China on 28 October 2010. The company plans
to conduct the first flight of the C919 in 2015, with deliveries beginning in 2017, whereas
Marwan Lahoud, Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer of EADS, assumes a competition outside
China around 2020. In June 2011 COMAC and Irish low-cost airline
Ryanair signed an agreement to co-operate on the development of the C919 On 24 November
2011, Comac announced the completion of the joint definition phase, marking the end of
the preliminary design phase for the C919. The company said it planned to cut the first
metal for the aircraft in December 2011, with estimated completion of the detailed design
phase in 2012. With an estimated development cost of $8.3
billion, Comac planned to produce 5-10 planes per year in 2016 and 2017, subsequently ramping
up to 150 C919s. The company intends to manufacture up to 2,300 aircraft of that type.
In 2014 delivery was yet again delayed by technology and supplier problems, this time
to 2018. Design
Design and assembly of the aircraft will be done in Shanghai, using foreign-made jet engines
and avionics. However, China has expressed its desire to produce a domestically made
engine for the C919. The center wing box, outer wing box, wing
panels, flaps and ailerons are planned to be built in Xi'an, China. The center fuselage
sections are planned to be built in Hongdu, China. The airframe will be made largely of
aluminium alloy, while the center wing box also makes use of carbonfiber composites.
CFM International will supply a version of the LEAP engine, the LEAP-1C, to power the
aircraft. The engine's nacelle, thrust reverser and exhaust system will be provided by Nexcelle,
with such features as an advanced inlet configuration, the extensive use of composites and acoustic
treatment and an electrically operated thrust reverser. Michelin will supply Air X radial
tyres. Dimensions of the C919 are very similar to
the Airbus A320, possibly to allow for a common pallet to be used. Its fuselage will be 3.96 metres
wide, and 4.166 metres high, producing a cross-section of 12.915 square metres. The
wingspan will be 33.6 metres, or 35.4 metres if winglets are included.
Payload will be 20.4 metric tonnes. Its cruise speed will be Mach 0.785 and it will have
a maximum altitude of 12,100 metres. There will be two variants. The standard version
will have a range of 4,075 km, with the extended-range version able to fly 5,555 km.
According to a film shown by Comac at the 2010 Zhuhai Airshow, the company plans to
build six different models of the aircraft: a base passenger aircraft with 168 seats,
as well as stretched and shrunk passenger versions, business jet and freighter models,
and a type designated only as "special". Target
The Comac C919 is intended to be a new entrant in the market of commercial airliners. Ongoing
fuel price increases, being especially damaging to the low-cost flying model, was probably
the main reason for Ryanair's interest in the project. Generally, the low-cost airlines
change planes frequently to avoid paying too much for fuel, because their model focus on
making as many flights as possible. Direct competitor - Boeing 737 unit cost of$32–$90
million means that target price for this airplane should be lower. The Airbus A320 costs even
more, from US$67.7 million to US$103.6 million. The Comac developers have not announced a
price tag for each plane, although based on industry speculation current orders for 2012
could be worth more than US $26 billion. This with 2012 orders for 380 lead to projected
average price of about $68 million. Some experts believe the C919 will not be
competitive either technologically or commercially when it enters service given the plane's strong
dependence on foreign suppliers. In particular, the price of the engines is one of the key
cost factors in aircraft manufacturing, and they will probably be bought from CFM International
Inc., the same company that sells the CFM International CFM56 used by direct competitors.
In 2013, state-owned newspaper Global Times complained that an Aviation Week editorial
about the bleak prospects for the aircraft "maliciously disparaged the future outlook
for the C919". Orders and deliveries
At the 2010 Zhuhai Airshow, Comac announced orders for 55 C919 aircraft from six airlines,
with an additional 45 options. The purchasing airlines or lessors included China Eastern
Airlines, Air China, Hainan Airlines, China Southern Airlines, CDB Leasing Company, and
GE Capital Aviation Services. On 20 October 2011, Chinese leasing company
ICBC Leasing announced an order for 45 C919s, as well as an agreement to be the launch customer
for the aircraft. Production of the first C919 testing prototype
began on December 9, 2011. The flight testbed is expected to enter final assembly in 2014,
and perform its first flight sometime in 2015. Orders
Specifications See also
Comac ARJ21 Aircraft of comparable role, configuration
and era Airbus A320neo family
Boeing 737 MAX Bombardier CSeries
Irkut MS-21 series Kawasaki YPX
Related lists List of airliners
References
External links C919 Program official page at Commercial Aircraft
Corporation of China Analysis: COMAC attempts to break the Airbus-Boeing
duopoly Fuentes, 2011