News
C919 flight test programme halted
June 22nd 2018
The C919 programme suffered another setback this week. Read More » Flight testing of the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) jet will be halted for approximately three months while flaps and fuel tanks are being modified and lamination deficiencies in the C919 tail section are being addressed.
The modifications to the flaps are related to strength, ATW in China reported, while the work on the aircraft’s tail is a response to delamination observed on the C919’s carbon-fibre reinforced plastic elevators.
Shanghai-based COMAC said it remained confident it would receive type certification from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in 2020, with first delivery of the aircraft to an airline customer in 2021.
The C919 performed its maiden flight last May and a second prototype took to the skies in November. The test aircraft must survive a rigorous certification process to meet international aviation safety regulations. In March, COMAC reported that 23 C919 test flights had taken place and that a third prototype would be added to the test aircraft family this year.
When the C919 was announced in 2010, COMAC aimed for first delivery in 2016, but the prototype was not unveiled until November 2015 and technical setbacks delayed its maiden flight.
Seating 168 passengers in a single class configuration, the C919 is very similar to the A320 and B737 series. It will be powered exclusively by CFM International LEAP-1C engines.
In its latest update, in February, COMAC said it had received 815 orders for the C919 and 453 for the ARJ21. The vast majority of these orders were placed by Mainland carriers and lessors.
Earlier this month, COMAC received a huge boost when the debt-ridden HNA Group conglomerate said it would take 200 C919s and 100 ARJ-21s under a “strategic cooperation agreement”.
HNA will fly the COMAC jets in China and overseas markets, such as Africa, where it holds a stake in Africa World Airlines.
