Air Data News
• Ricardo Meier
An Air China C919 flew from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar on Aug. 12, marking the Chinese narrowbody’s first scheduled commercial operation outside China. The milestone advances COMAC’s effort to establish the C919 as a competitor to the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 in global passenger aviation.
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Two additional Chinese airlines have publicly expressed interest in operating the COMAC C919, expanding the pool of potential customers for the narrowbody jet. The aircraft manufacturer is nevertheless unable to supply interested operators at the pace it had planned, highlighting continued constraints in the program’s production ramp-up.
Shenzhen Airlines and Loong Air are evaluating the addition of COMAC C919s to their fleets, according to executive comments reported from an aviation forum in Guangzhou. Any future commitments would broaden the C919’s customer base among China’s major domestic carriers and strengthen its position in the Chinese market.
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An Air China C919 flew from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar on Aug. 12, marking the Chinese narrowbody’s first scheduled commercial operation outside China. The milestone advances COMAC’s effort to establish the C919 as a competitor to the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 in global passenger aviation.
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United Aircraft Corp. has flown the first production-standard MC-21-310 built on the serial assembly line in Irkutsk, advancing Russia’s import-substitution narrowbody program. The aircraft is part of an initial batch of 18, but the type still requires certification before deliveries—planned for Aeroflot from 2027—can begin.
COMAC has completed the first flight of the C919-600, a shortened, high-altitude derivative of its C919 narrowbody. The milestone advances a variant intended to address the performance and capacity requirements of operations from challenging, high-elevation airports.
Chinese operator Xizang Airlines is named as the launch customer for COMAC’s C919 high-altitude variant, with 40 aircraft reportedly on order. The variant has now completed its first test flight from Shanghai Pudong International Airport, marking a key milestone in its development program.
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COMAC has completed the first test flight of the C919-600 compact, high-altitude variant in Shanghai, positioning it for operations from high-elevation airports such as the Tibetan Plateau. The aircraft is described as a shorter-member of the C919 family and the second program member to enter flight testing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Yakovlev’s Irkutsk Aviation Plant to inspect the MC-21-310 production line. The aircraft is expected to complete its certification campaign and begin commercial service in 2027, with the visit underscoring state scrutiny and momentum heading into the compliance phase.
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