China seeks European regulatory nod for C919

Bloomberg

China plans to get European regulatory approval for the C919, a move that would boost the appeal of the nation’s first domestically produced large jet to overseas buyers.
The nation will seek to gain the European Aviation Safety Agency’s certification for the C919 as part of negotiations under a China-E.U. air-safety agreement, Li Jian, deputy administrator of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said on Thursday. Certification of airworthiness by the EASA or the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration would help the plane break into international markets.
State-backed Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China Ltd., known as Comac, is set to conduct the maiden flight of the C919 before the end of May, according to people familiar with the matter, after a delay of more than a year. The single-aisle aircraft is a result of China’s ambitious goal to become an advanced manufacturing powerhouse and break into the passenger-jet market dominated by Airbus SE and Boeing Co. — estimated to surpass $1 trillion in the nation within two decades.
The C919 isn’t China’s first passenger jet. Comac previously developed a smaller regional jet, ARJ21, which competes with aircraft from Bombardier Inc. and Embraer SA. The ARJ21 was about a decade behind schedule, and took six years to go from first flight to commercial operation. The plane isn’t certified by the EASA or the FAA.
“The ARJ21 has provided a lesson for the C919,” Comac President He Dongfeng told Bloomberg News at the conference. The C919 will “definitely” go to the market faster than the ARJ21, he said.
Comac had received orders and commitments for about 570 C919s as of November, including from aircraft leasing companies, Citic Financial Leasing and SPDB Financial Leasing. China Eastern Airlines Corp. will be the first carrier to take delivery of the C919.
Without certification by U.S. and European authorities, the C919 won’t be able to fly to these
regions, reducing its appeal to more potential customers.