According to Hong Kong media recently, citing sources familiar with the matter, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) delegation will arrive in China in early July to conduct an on-site inspection of C919, and will also officially start the certification process for C919.
EASA officials and technicians will participate in the flight simulation of the C919 and exchange ideas with the design team, during which the EASA delegation will conduct a comprehensive inspection, including boarding for a closer look and a tour of the assembly line where COMAC is manufactured.
C919 initiates the certification process
It represents that the C919 is one step closer to obtaining the airworthiness certification of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, but the date of the special verification flight of the C919 has not yet been determined.
In April this year, Continental has started to prepare for the C919 to obtain the international airworthiness certificate, on April 18, the Civil Aviation Administration of China visited EASA's headquarters in Cologne, Germany, and on May 29, the third China-Europe Aviation Safety Annual Conference hosted by both sides was held in Xiamen.
According to the understanding, the C919 is the first jet trunk airliner developed by the mainland in accordance with international airworthiness standards and with independent intellectual property rights. With a maximum passenger capacity of 192 passengers and a maximum range of 5,555 kilometers, it was once regarded as a competitor to the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 families.
C919 airliner
If the C919 can obtain international airworthiness certification, then the monopoly of the two "giants" of Airbus and Boeing on the civil airliner market will be broken.
Especially for Boeing, EASA's visit to China next month is not good news.
Since the crash of a Boeing 737-8 passenger plane in Ethiopia on March 10, 2019, this is the second air crash of the Boeing 737 MAX family after the crash of the same type of passenger plane of the same type of Indonesian Lion Air at the end of October 2018, resulting in the global grounding of the aircraft.
On June 19, the families of the victims of the 2019 Boeing 737 MAX crash demanded a fine of $24.8 billion for Boeing, as well as criminal charges against Boeing executives at the time.
Boeing 737 MAX crash
In contrast, since the C919 began commercial operation on May 28, 2023, COMAC has delivered a total of 6 C919s to domestic airlines, and China Eastern Airlines' C919s have carried a total of 300,000 passengers.
Although China and the EU are currently at odds over trade in electric vehicles, the visit to China by German Vice Chancellor and Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Habeck has led to an attempt to broker trade talks between China and the EU.
The Minister of Commerce of the People's Republic of China held a video meeting with the Executive Vice President of the European Commission, and the two sides agreed to start consultations on the EU's countervailing investigation of electric vehicles against China.
In the face of a "peaceful" country between China and Europe, it is impossible for people to watch Boeing gradually lose the Chinese civil aviation passenger aircraft market, and it is very likely that the American style of action will choose to put pressure on the EU and obstruct the process of C919 obtaining international airworthiness certification.
Chinese electric vehicles enter Europe
In the face of a "peaceful" country between China and Europe, it is impossible for people to watch Boeing gradually lose the Chinese civil aviation passenger aircraft market, and it is very likely that the American style of action will choose to put pressure on the EU and obstruct the process of C919 obtaining international airworthiness certification.
After all, if C919 wants to obtain international airworthiness certification, in addition to the airworthiness certification issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency, it can also choose to obtain the airworthiness certification issued by the United States Aviation Administration.
Now China has chosen EASA to certify the C919, perhaps because we know that it is impossible for the Americans to issue airworthiness certification for the C919, so we have chosen to negotiate with Europe.
However, when the C919 is one step closer to obtaining international airworthiness certification, it does not mean that Boeing has completely failed. If Boeing can re-examine its own shortcomings, strictly control the quality of passenger aircraft production, and take China's attitude of creating peace, development, cooperation and win-win, it will not choose to restrict Boeing's passenger aircraft from entering China's civil aviation market, and then it will depend on how the Americans will choose.
(Text/Mr. Zhuge )