China’s home-grown C919 passenger jet completed its long-delayed maiden flight on Friday, a major first step for Beijing as it looks to raise its profile in the global aviation market and boost high-tech manufacturing at home.
Under overcast skies, the white, green and blue aircraft, with “C919” emblazoned on its tail, touched down at Shanghai’s international airport after an 80-minute flight to cheers from thousands of dignitaries, aviation workers and enthusiasts.
The jet is a symbol of China’s ambitions to muscle into a global jet market estimated to be worth $2 trillion over the next two decades, as well as of Beijing’s broader “Made in China 2025” plan to spur home-made products, from medicines to robots.
“Seeing the C919 take off into the sky made me quite emotional. This is a moment we have waited to see for a very long time,” Wang Mingfeng, 42, who witnessed the maiden flight at the Shanghai airport, told Reuters.
“I believe that in the not too distant future, we will be neck-and-neck with Boeing and Airbus.”
At the moment, though, Boeing (BA.N) and Airbus (AIR.PA) remain far ahead in terms of sales, technical know-how and order books. And the C919, whose test flight was pushed back at least twice since 2014 due to production issues, may need years of tests to get certified in China, as well as in the United States and Europe.
he crew of five pilots and engineers, all wearing orange jump suits and aviators, were applauded as they disembarked. The plane, which can carry 158-168 passengers, had no passenger seats installed for the maiden flight.
A letter from China’s ministerial cabinet, read out after the plane landed, said the successful flight marked a “major breakthrough” and milestone for China’s passenger jet industry. The industry ministry said in a statement the flight went smoothly and that all the systems functioned properly.
The C919, made by state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) [CMAFC.UL], relies on overseas technology from firms including General Electric (GE.N), France’s Safran (SAF.PA), Honeywell International Inc (HON.N) and United Technologies Corp (UTX.N) subsidiary Goodrich.
China Eastern Airlines (600115.SS) is the launch customer for the plane, which COMAC says has 570 orders from 23 customers.