It’s not not necessarily good news for the Toulouse aviation. The C919, the first medium-haul aircraft made by China, made its first public air outing on Tuesday (November 8th) at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai.
The jet looks like the direct competitor of the Airbus A320 (particularly assembled in Toulouse), but also the Boeing 737 Max. Today, China is very dependent on foreign aircraft manufacturers. Chinese companies are therefore very interested in this device. China Eastern Airlines, in particular. The second airline in the country by number of passengers has already said that it plans to add four C919s to its fleet.
What impact on Airbus in Toulouse?
China Eastern is currently a long-time Airbus customer. For the A320 family alone, it has nearly 300 aircraft: 180 A320-200s, 37 A320 Neos, and 77 A321-200s. But with the C919, nothing says that the Chinese company will remain faithful to the Toulouse aircraft manufacturer.
Comac, the Chinese state company that builds the C919 says it has already received more than 800 orders from dozens of customers. Chinese, above all. Because for the moment it is only in China that the C919 obtained its certification, last September. European and American regulators have not yet spoken.