May 1 2025, 07:04 PM, updated 8 months ago
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As China continues to promote its home-grown C919 passenger plane to overseas markets – and builds a name for the jet in Southeast Asia – it could take longer than expected for the aircraft to receive a coveted endorsement from the European Union’s safety regulator.
In remarks published by French magazine L’Usine Nouvelle on Monday, Florian Guillermet, executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), said certification for the narrowbody C919 – essential for the sale of any aircraft to European carriers – will not be granted this year.
“As we informed them officially, the C919 cannot be certified in 2025 … We should be certifying the C919 within three to six years,” Guillermet said. Analysts did not expect the news to deter the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), the jet’s manufacturer, in its attempts to enter a major overseas market, as the company still has cards left to play.
“C919’s reliability and safety have to be proven by more flights, and it is definitely normal for [the regulator] to have a sceptical and scrutinising attitude,” aviation analyst Li Hanming said. Following its first commercial flight in May 2023, Comac’s plane has been in regular use on several domestic flight paths, transporting over 1 million passengers as of January 2025.
The company received at least 300 firm orders from major Chinese airlines in 2024, with the jet now flying commercial routes in mainland China and Hong Kong. The airliner has also made high-profile appearances at international air shows.
The C919’s European certification process started four years ago, including two “very productive” years, according to Guillermet of EASA. The European agency and the Civil Aviation Administration of China signed the EU-China Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement in 2019, which reciprocally simplified the approval process for civil aviation vessels and equipment. That deal should encourage the two regulators to share data on aircraft seeking certification, said Mayur Patel, Asia head at British aviation intelligence firm OAG.
https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/...meline-extendedIn remarks published by French magazine L’Usine Nouvelle on Monday, Florian Guillermet, executive director of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), said certification for the narrowbody C919 – essential for the sale of any aircraft to European carriers – will not be granted this year.
“As we informed them officially, the C919 cannot be certified in 2025 … We should be certifying the C919 within three to six years,” Guillermet said. Analysts did not expect the news to deter the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), the jet’s manufacturer, in its attempts to enter a major overseas market, as the company still has cards left to play.
“C919’s reliability and safety have to be proven by more flights, and it is definitely normal for [the regulator] to have a sceptical and scrutinising attitude,” aviation analyst Li Hanming said. Following its first commercial flight in May 2023, Comac’s plane has been in regular use on several domestic flight paths, transporting over 1 million passengers as of January 2025.
The company received at least 300 firm orders from major Chinese airlines in 2024, with the jet now flying commercial routes in mainland China and Hong Kong. The airliner has also made high-profile appearances at international air shows.
The C919’s European certification process started four years ago, including two “very productive” years, according to Guillermet of EASA. The European agency and the Civil Aviation Administration of China signed the EU-China Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement in 2019, which reciprocally simplified the approval process for civil aviation vessels and equipment. That deal should encourage the two regulators to share data on aircraft seeking certification, said Mayur Patel, Asia head at British aviation intelligence firm OAG.
Deswai they kenot sell to us and we must buy boeing/airbus.. kesian
This post has been edited by RT8081: May 1 2025, 07:11 PM
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